The Demon's Protegee
by AtomicProBomb
Summary: Mirajane helps Natsu become physically stronger, Natsu helps Mirajane get emotionally stronger. They help each other get through a lot and will go through a lot more together.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everybody! This is my first fanfiction yet so I don't promise the best of creativity and such. But I hope you can still enjoy the story I'm about to write(still have no idea what it's going to be about). Set at the time of a 13 year old fire dragon slayer.

The city of Magnolia, a magnificent place that is always filled with joy and action. This was mainly because of a very rowdy guild that is located there, I think we all know it ... That's right, Fairy Tail. Now let me introduce to you the main character of the story, Natsu Dragneel. He's a fire dragon slayer in Fairy Tail, everyone just thinks of him as a mere idiot that has a good spirit. Most of the guild brawls were caused by him and his rival, Gray Fullbuster. He could always find a way to cheer people up. In other words, he was a good kid that has a lack of intelligence. I mentioned before how he often causes guild brawls. There so happens to be one going on right now, maybe we could go take a look?

* * *

"Take this, Ash-for-breath!" Gray shouted while performing a sneak attack on Natsu

"Ouch, that was low, Gray!" Natsu retalliated with an insult

"Oh shut up, you wouldn't have been able to handle it if it came from the back OR the front anyway." A tick mark appeared on Natsu's forehead at this

"Wanna go at it, Ice princess?" Natsu asked the ice mage

"I'll beat you anytime, Flame brain!" Gray responded

"Boys, how often have I told you not to fight in the guild hall?" a creepy, strict, scarlet-haired, armored girl asked while giving them a death stare

"We weren't fighting! We were merely having a friendly discussion, right Natsu?!" Gray yelled while acting like best friends with Natsu

"Of course, best friend! Why would we do something as silly as punching eachother?" Natsu asked his so called 'best friend'

"It appears people thought that's what we were doing, haha." Gray stated

"Oh please, we're not kids. Now Erza, everything's fine here. So why don't you go ahead and order a strawberry cheesecake?" at this the scarlet-haired girl immediatly turned around and went to order a cake like Natsu suggested.

"Smooth one, Natsu!" a silver-haired girl sitting on a table yelled at him, giving him a thumbs up. As she walked up to him she said "But not everybody will be as easy to fool as that flat-chested, anti-fun set of armor". Natsu merely grinned at this statement

"I know that, but for now it's still fun!" Mirajane laughed at his comment

"If it's fun you want, why are you on her team?" She asked, Natsu had to think for a while

"I actually really don't know. I never really thought of leaving the team." Natsu responded

"You never put a lot of thought into anything, do you?" Mira smirked

"Hey! What's wrong with that?" Natsu pouted

"Aw, what's wrong? You gonna cry because you're dumb?" Mirajane bullied Natsu, just like she bullied pretty much everyone at the guild

Natsu mumbled something she couldn't understand. "Why are you suddenly so interested in Natsu?" Gray asked, at this the silver haired girl smirked and responded "I think it's cute when he cries". "I'm not crying!" Natsu countered.

* * *

Soon after that Natsu left the build with his best friend Happy, the flying cat. They went to go fishing at the usual lake.

"Ne, Natsu", "what is it, Happy?" Natsu wondered what his friend wanted from him.

"Are you really that cute when you cry?". This ticked Natsu off

"Do you really believe that, Happy?" Natsu asked with a menacing voice.

"I don't know, why do you think I'm asking?" Happy asked being ignorant towards the sound of his voice

"Why don't you ask Mira, after all she's the one who claimed that crap" Natsu reasoned with the blue cat.

"That makes sense, I'll do that!" after that Happy flew off to find Mirajane. Leaving Natsu to his lonely self.

"Guess there's no point in fishing without him around" He said as he moved to a tree and took a nice nap. When Natsu awakened he noticed his buddy had yet to return and so he went looking for Happy, using his sharp nose to follow his scent.

* * *

"Hey Lisanna, do you know where Mira is?" Happy entered the guild hall and asked for Mira.

"Mira-nee? What do you need her for?" Happy told her the reason he looked for her

"Well if you ask me ... I think Natsu's cute all the time" she shyly said while blushing

"Well we know that but we want to know why Mira thinks so" Happy responded with a grin

"Mira-nee was probably just teasing him again, I doubt she really thinks he's cute" Lisanna responded with her thoughts on her older sister.

"But still ... Where is she anyway?" Lisanna started looking around for her sister but could not find her.

"I don't know, she could be training or something" Lisanna suggested

"Why would she be training? Isn't she already the strongest of us?" Happy asked

"I don't know, Happy. Maybe you could find her and ask her because I can't tell you"

"Alright, I'll find out" And so Happy flew off once again looking for the silver haired maiden

* * *

As Natsu ran through the forest, following the scent of his best friend, he heard some branches breaking and wood splintering. He wondered what the cause of this was and decided to check it out. As soon as he arrived at the location the sound came from he saw Mirajane training. She was in her Satan Soul form excercising her physical power. Natsu was amazed as she just crushed every single tree with ease. He just felt like he couldn't slip this by without a word, so he came out and greeted her.

"Yo, Mira! That's some huge strength you're showing off!" Mira panicked and turned around, punching him in the face. Natsu got sent flying through multiple trees.

"Natsu?! Were you spying on me?" She asked with an angry look on her face

As Natsu recovered from the blow he was all bruised up and moving in pain. "No, I was just passing by and heard you demolishing these trees so I decided to check it out. Man you've been excercising haven't you?" Mira smirked at his comment.

"Glad I impressed at least someone. You show respect, I like that." Natsu gave her a grin right back

"I'm just stating the obvious, you're really strong, Mira. Though I hope to beat you one day" Mirajane admired his spirit.

"That's what I like to hear, though you're nowhere near beating me right now. Don't you think you should be training a bit as well?"

"Well ... I guess. I promise I'll become strong enough to beat you, Mira. Actually, can I ask you a favor?" This peeked Mirajane's interests as she lifted an eyebrow

"What kind of favor would that be?" She asked the Pink haired boy.

"I'd like to train with you, training isn't fun when you're alone, right? And you're super strong, it'd be a big help to me" Mirajane was surprised how the boy put his pride besides him to ask her for help

"Hmm ... And what if I accept your request?" The take over mage asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Natsu was confused towards her question.

"Don't you think I deserve something in return?" Natsu thought deeply about this

"What could I do for you then?" A smirk appeared on Mira's face.

"We're gonna pull a couple of pranks on the flat chest every so often, sounds good?" Natsu was surprised at how good of an offer that was.

"For sure! Count me in!" The dragon slayer replied.

"Alright then, let me see how strong you are, Natsu!" Mira demanded him to show off his strength and it didn't take Natsu very long to comply. He got in his battle stance and prepared to face Mirajane, the take over demon.

* * *

Thanks for reading the story! I hope I didn't waste your time with this, feel free to share your thoughts on how I did. If people like this story I'll definitely update! Thanks again! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys, I'm really happy to see that I had quite a good amount of responses on this story so I decided to go on with it! I'm going to write this story just as a wrote the last one, which means I write the stuff as it comes. So I really don't know where this story is going. But I hope it'll be good for you guys. Thanks for the support and here's the story!

* * *

Natsu stood in his battle stance, preparing to face Mirajane, Fairy Tail's demon. A few moments went by as they stared in eachothers eyes with fire in their eyes. Natsu was the first one to make a move as he rushed towards the take over mage with a flaming fist aiming for her head.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He screamed as he lunged hir arm forward, it didn't take much effort for the silver haired girl to dodge it though as she simply took a swift step to the left. After Natsu passed her she simply 'guided' his face to the ground.

"Aw, c'mon Natsu. That isn't all you got, is it?" The girl asked with a smirk on her face.

"Hell no, it's not!" Natsu yelled as he quickly got on his feet again.

'He's tenacious alright, I'll give him that much' Mira thought to herself as Natsu went in for yet another Fire Dragon's Iron Fist, Mira responded the same way as she did last time and just took a swift step to the right this time. After passing her the Fire mage quickly spun for a roundhouse kick and scored a strike.

"It seems you're not as braindead as I thought you were. At least you learn a little bit while fighting someone." Natsu was happy to be praised by someone stronger than him. To him it meant he was making progress.

"You only get stronger by facing tougher opponents, you only learn in a battle with an opponent more skillful than you, that's where you come in, Mira." He reasoned as Mira could only be impressed as how the Dragon Slayer showed a side no one had seen before, a not-so-braindead side if you will.

'Is this really the same Natsu that does nothing but brawling and fishing?' Mirajane wondered, but she didn't have enough time to answer that question herself as Natsu came in for a Fire Dragon's sword horn. Mirajane simply stopped him right in his tracks, the pink haired dragon slayer just stood motionless staring at her, he was truly amazed by his opponent's strength.

"My turn" Is all he heard before he found his way through 4 trees into a dirthill.

Natsu got up but was in no condition to fight anymore. "It's gonna take a whole lot more to beat you, won't it?" He could mumble before falling on his knees again.

"You bet it will!" She told him as she helped him up and guided him towards his house.

* * *

They arrived at the house the dragon slayer and his best friend shared. Once there Natsu and Mira could finally let go of eachother as he now had other things to support him. "Thanks, Mira. I had a lot of fun fighting you. Can we go again tomorrow?" Natsu asked the take over mage.

Mira had to think for a second, not about the question he asked, but about him. Was he really the childish fighting spirit of the guild? "Sure, I can tell you need it." She responded hiding her previous thoughts.

"Great, I'll see you tomorrow then!" the pink haired boy was happy to be able to train more and become stronger.

"Natsu! Mira!" a high pitched voice called out for them.

"Happy! Where you been, buddy?" Natsu asked.

"Looking for her!" He replied with a finger pointing at The silver haired mage.

"Well good job missing out on her. She was training in the forest and I decided to join her." Natsu explained to the exceed.

"Oh, I see. That explains why you are completely beat up, you got destroyed by Mira!" Happy reasoned. A tick mark appeared on Natsu's head.

"Is that so? I see how you came to that conclusion. Now Happy, if you'd come inside I'll show you exactly HOW she beated me up." Mirajane could only laugh at the two best friends argueing.

"What's so funny?" They both asked. Mirajane managed to get her laughter under control.

"You two are made for eachother." She stated as she ran off to the guild hall.

"What was that about?" The blue cat wondered before being dragged in the house by an irritated dragon slayer.

* * *

The next day at the guild, Natsu came in hoping to find a cerain take over mage. "Lisanna, do you know where Mira is?" The younger female of the Strauss siblings was the first he questioned.

"No, Natsu. What do you need Mira-nee for?" Lisanna was surprised at how her older sister became so popular with the exceed and the dragon slayer.

"Oh, well she promised to train me today." Lisanna was surprised at hearing this.

"Mira-nee ... Is training you?" Natsu could detect the amazement in her voice.

"Yes, is that a bad thing?" The pink haired could only wonder.

"No, it's just that ... I never expected her to do such a thing for anyone, not even me or Elf-niichan." The boy was surprised at how exclusive he was treated by one of the strongest members around.

"Oh well, I guess I'll just keep asking around. Thanks anyway, Lisanna! Oh, and isn't it your turn to take care of Happy?" Natsu asked her before leaving. She nodded as a response as the blue cat flew over to her side watching Natsu walk over to Elfman.

"Yo, Elfman. Do you know where Mira is?" The male Strauss sibling turned around to see the pink haired dragon slayer grinning at him.

"This morning she said she was meeting someone in the forest. I asked her if it was a boy and she gave me that death stare of hers." Elfman explained as he got cold chills and pulled a scared face at the memory of his sister this morning.

"Thanks, Elfman!" Natsu ran off towards the forest after asking Elfman.

Elfman went over to Lisanna and asked her what was going on with the oldest sibling and the dragon slayer, only to hear that she didn't know either.

* * *

Natsu ran through the forest, looking for a certain silver haired girl. With his sense of smell it didn't take long to find her though. "Hey, Mira!" He greeted her as she turned around to meet the dragon slayer's eyes.

"What took you so long?" She asked as she got up from her sitting position.

"Eh, I didn't expect us to start so soon. I thought you'd be at the guild, so I asked around for you there. Anyway, what were you doing?" Natsu explained the take over mage what had held him up.

"I was working on my magical energy, it's what we're gonna do for today, maybe tomorrow too." The Silver haired mage responded.

"Aren't we gonna excercise our battle strength?" Natsu looked at her with a raised eyebrown.

"First I want you to increase your magic power. It's also very imporant, only second to combat experience." The female mage replied. The dragon slayer sat down in front of her as he looked at her expecting her to do the same. Mirajane sat down in front of him and held his hands while gaining a pink tint on her cheeks.

"Uh, Mira?" the dragon slayer was curious towards her action. "Is this necessary?" He asked.

"It'll help you, and perhaps myself as well." Was what he got as an answer. Both started focusing on the magical energy inside of them. They were meditating for 2 hours before Natsu awoke from the trance.

"Ugh, I'm worn out." He muttered. He realized he was still holding hands with the silver haired beauty in front of him. Even the dragon slayer started blushing slightly at the sight.

A bit later Mirajane as well awoke from the trance and asked Natsu about his progress. Both seemed to have endured progression in their magical prowess.

"So what do we do now?" The pink haired boy asked expecting her to respond with something exciting.

"We rest, that took a lot out of me, not you?" The take over mage wondered, surprised by his energy.

"Well if you can't go it's no fun, so I'll just relax here with you for a bit." He said that but it didn't take long before the boy was out cold. Mirajane could only laugh at how cute he looked when he was asleep.

'Wait, what am I thinking? This is Natsu we're talking about!' She thought to herself as she again gave the sleeping body besides her a glance. 'But he still is a nice heater, I guess I can use that as an excuse.' She reasoned as she snuggled up to the dragon slayer and quickly fell asleep herself.

* * *

Alright, this was the second part of this story. I hope you all enjoyed it so far and I'll be sure to keep creating content like this! Thanks for your time and support, 'til next time! :D


	3. Chapter 3

Natsu was the first one to wake up from his slumber. Seeing a sleeping Mira almost on top of him, his immediate reflex was to say " 'Morning, Mira!". Right after that he realized what it was that he just said, pushing her away from him as he backed away from her. The silver haired girl woke up from this as a result.

"Good morning, Natsu." She calmy said as if nothing was going on.

Natsu quickly wanted to know "Why were you so close to me?". Mirajane could leave a slight blush on her face as she explained - or lied - that he was treated as her personal heater.

The dragon slayer nodded in understanding as he got up. "How long have we been out?"

"Don't ask me, let's go check on the guild." Mirajane was quick to respond. Both headed off towards the guild hall.

* * *

Entering the place Lisanna was the first to greet pink haired fire mage. "Hey, Natsu. It's your turn to take Happy again." Happy landed on top of Natsu's head. "What'll we have for dinner tonight, Natsu?" Natsu thought about this for a bit and checked how much jewels he had.

"Oh crap! I totally got caught up in training all the time I haven't done any jobs recently, now I'm out of jewels!" Happy was caught with his eyes wide open.

"Does that mean we'll have no food?" Tears started to form in his eyes, but before he could start crying Mirajane muttered something.

"What was that, Mira?" Natsu asked the take over mage.

"Y-You could maybe ... Like ... Perhaps come ... Have dinner at ... Like ... Our place?" Mirajane asked nervously while slightly looking away and blushing.

"Really?! You'd do that for us?" She quickly nodded.

"That's great, but are you sure? Won't we be too much of a burden? What about Lisanna and Elfman?". Mirajane walked over to the other Strauss siblings to ask their permission for the matter. After that she quickly returned saying that it was no problem at all.

"Alright! Thanks a bunch, Mira! We owe you!" The pink haired boy expressed how grateful he was and in the moment he hugged Mirajane. Extremely surprised towards his actions she pushed him away from her as the guild was now staring at them. Rumors started going around, people started mentioning that the two have been around eachother quite often lately and wondered if something was going on between them. Mirajane quickly solved the matter by slamming Natsu's head into the ground. Sighs of relief could be heard from all around the guild hall.

"Ouch, what was that for?" Natsu muttered as he rubbed his head.

"Don't act so intimite with me!" She yelled at him as she gave him an angry look.

"But just a few hours ago you ev- " But our dragon slayer could not finish his phrase as his face suffered the same fate as a minute ago. He was out cold and Mirajane dragged him out to his house pretending to take responsibility for what she had done to him.

"Uh ... Lisanna? Can I stay with you for just a little longer?" The blue cat asked the young girl. Lisanna only nodded while she stared at the entrance of the guild.

* * *

Mirajane laid Natsu down on his bed. She sat on a nearby chair waiting for him to wake up. She felt bad about what she did but she didn't want anyone to suspect a thing. Soon moaning could be heard from the dragon slayer.

"Ugh ... My head." Looking around he noticed the take over mage accompanying him in his household. "Oh hi there, Mira. Wait ... Why'd you knock me out?".

"Do you want people to think we're together?" Mirajane responded to his question with another one.

"Umm ... But we're together right now, aren't we?" From the inside she was smiling at how dense the boy was. But she explained what she meant by 'together'.

"Oooooh ... eh ... Not really." Natsu responded as he caught onto what she meant.

"I thought as much. Now, I asked Elfman and Lisanna. They don't mind you coming over for dinner, but they did pull some weird faces when I asked. They probably suspect something is in fact going on between us." They both frowned at this. "I guess we're just gonna have to act distant." She stated a little later.

"I don't really want that." Natsu replied with a questioning look from the take over mage.

"And why is that?" She asked the dragon slayer.

"No reason in particular..." He nervously spoke.

"Alright then, I guess we'll just act natural." Mirajane didn't give it a second thought and decided to leave him be on the matter as she complied with his wishes.

"Ok, so will I see you tonight then?" He asked the white haired girl.

"Yup, you better be on time! Within 2 hours from now I expect you there!" Natsu nodded as a response. Mirajane quickly ran homewards, leaving the dragon slayer by himself. A thought crosses his mind as he was absently staring out the window. 'Together ...'

* * *

The eldest Strauss sibling could be found in the kitchen, working on a supposedly delicious meal. The younger sister could be found next to her, guiding the elder one through the process of cooking. Mirajane had asked Lisanna for help as she really wanted to make the dinner herself but she wasn't exactly a natural at cooking. Lisanna was only happy she could help out her older sister and naturally agreed. Elfman was in the living room fondling his small and fragile bird. As soon as knocking could be heard from the door Mirajane nearly spilled the food around the kitchen. Lisanna took over as the elder one rushed to the door with a rather unusual - for her at least - outfit.

Natsu saw the door in front of him open as it revealed a Mirajane dressed in the girliest way he had ever seen her. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined Mirajane with an actual dress covering her body. He was amazed by how beautiful she could actually look. With wide eyes and his mouth open, he was staring at the girl in front of him. The silver haired mage got a pink tint on her cheeks noticing the reaction of the dragon slayer. "Is something wrong, Natsu?" She asked, pulling him out of his trance.

"No, everything's better than I thought it'd be." He replied, still looking at the clothes of the woman in front of him.

"Why don't you come on in?" She motioned him to enter the house.

"Dinner will be ready in a bit, until then you can join Elfman in the living room." He was guided towards Elfman and quickly sat down near him. "Yo, Elfman!" Natsu greeted him cheerfully. Elfman responded simply with a mere "Hello, Natsu." and went back to fondling his bird.

"The little guy seems to be in really good care with you." Our pink haired boy complimenting the Male Strauss sibling on his love for the animal. "Thanks, Natsu. I sure hope so." Elfman responded, quite surprised Natsu could be so thoughtful. It didn't take long before Lisanna called the two to the table as dinner was ready to be served. A square table was set for them with 2 seats on 2 opposing sides of it. Elfman and Lisanna paired up on one side, Natsu was left alone on the other. "I tried my best not to mess it all up." A nervous Mirajane said as she entered the room with a big plate of what smelled to be delishous ... MEAT -according to Natsu - . After everyone got their plate filled Natsu dug right in and was overjoyed by the taste of it. "Mira, did you really make all this?" The boy asked, amazement filling his voice. The silver haired beauty nodded shyly as she recieved a compliment from the dragon slayer at how good it all tasted.

"Hey, Lisanna. Where's Happy?" The pink haired boy wondered as he couldn't find his best friend anywhere.

"Oh, he's upstairs nibbling on a raw fish" The younger girl answered with a grin.

"I should've thought as much." He replied, not expecting much more of the cat.

It didn't take long before Natsu's plate was entirely empty. He patted his stomach as he let out a sigh of joy. Giving Mirajane yet another compliment on the amazing food. A bit later everyone had finished their meal.

"Lisanna, Elfman, can you two take care of the dishes tonight?" They both nodded as they knew what was most likely to happen if they did not comply.

The elder sister dragged Natsu upstairs all the way to her room. The boy was thrown on her soft bed as he got a good look around, only to be left speechless at how much stuff there was which he didn't expect to be there at all. There was a big standing mirror, lots of comfy pillows, a few stuffed animals. "What'd you bring me for?" He wondered.

"I don't know, I just didn't want those other two around." She replied, he was looking out the window as the same thought from before crossed his mind. She went to sit down next to him.

"Is something the matter, Natsu? You seem absent." Mirajane asked concerned.

"I've been thinking about something ever since you left me at my place." He explained the reason of his spacing out, much to her surprise.

"Thinking about what exactly?" Was the obvious quesiton that came to her mind.

"About the 'together' you mentioned." She was caught completely off guard because of this as she got caught into a hug. "I'm sure, that I really really like you, Mirajane. Just as you described." The girl was completely in shock, not ever had she expected this from the pink haired dragon slayer. The once so dense boy, showing affection towards her. As she pulled herself from the shock she returned the hug, much to the dragon slayer's surprise.

"I'm sure I know exactly how you feel, Natsu. Since it is how I feel as well." Natsu's eyes widened as he pulled back from the hug.

"R-Really?!" He asked her in amazement. She nodded in confirmation.

"Why? Is it really that weird for me to like a boy?" She asked Natsu, slightly giggling at what she just said.

"No, that's not it. It's not that you can't be with a boy, but for me to get so lucky. That's new to me." He smiled back at her with this response.

"I don't know, you've shown me a side which people don't get to see from you in the guild hall. You've shown me something else to you besides the dense, childish fighter you always are." Mirajane explained how it happened as Natsu realized how he often acts that way.

"I guess I do act that way in the guild all the time, don't I?" Was what he spoke followed by a grin.

"You have shown me some other side to you as well. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined you as beautiful as you are now, not that you're not beautiful that way you are usually. Never would I have thought you could actually be this kind of a person." Mirajane could only blush at what the dragon slayer had just spoken.

"I guess we both broke through eachother's shells of toughness and density, discovering what there really is to us." She stated as the boy nodded in agreement.

"You're amazing, Mira." He brought out as she pulled him in another tight hug, crying tears of joy.

* * *

Thanks again for your time and support! I really hope you all are enjoying the story, it's mainly what I write these for. I've just been getting bored so I decided to upload yet another chapter today. Hope you all appreciate it, I'm signing off!


	4. Chapter 4

The following day was peaceful, there wasn't much action as everybody was just at the guild gossiping about all sorts of things. The main subject was how Mirajane hadn't been seen by anyone after dragging Natsu home besides the other Strauss siblings in the evening. The 2 subjects of these gossips were on their way to the guild talking about how they were gonna act around or tell everyone.

"Should we announce it so everybody knows?" The take over mage asked her company.

"I don't think I want to do that. But I'm no gonna act like nothing's going on either, I won't care for them to find out." The dragon slayer smirked.

"You can be so teasy sometimes." Mirajane smiled at him.

"What? I'm not teasy!" Natsu pouted. She adored how childish the dragon slayer could be, yet she was still happy that wasn't all there was to him.

"Maybe you don't want to be, but you still can be a tease." She replied. He had no control over the conversation and was brought in a slightly awkward position, although his partner in the conversation made it less awkward than it should be.

"Do you think we should try a mission together?" The dragon slayer changed the subject.

"Sounds like fun, we can see how much progress we've made!" Was her answer, his eyes burned with anticipation as he wanted to fight a real opponent badly.

As they entered the guild everybody's voice went silent. Not a single person wasn't looking at the exact movements of the couple. Ignorant towards the stares they walked towards the request board. As they both agreed on the same job they saw something from the silver haired mage they've never seen before, it was a warm smile that no one had ever seen from her. A few gasps could be heard as they left, their hands intertwining when they passed the guild's entrance.

"I have a feeling they know." Natsu stated as they heard all sorts of loud screams coming from the guild. Mirajane merely giggled in response. They took another look at the job they both had agreed on. It was a job meant for 2 mages of which at least one female, they were supposed to find a pair a rapists that had set up camp in the forest by Clover Town. Both have been confirmed to have magic capabilities. It was requested to be done by at least one female mage so that they could be taken out as subtle as possible by the means of deception. The mages would be provided a place to stay by the mayor himself. After giving the request another look they smiled at eachother, however the one on Natsu's face was quick to disappear as they arrived at the train station.

"Can't we just fly over there or something?" He desperatly begged his partner.

"You know how insane that sounds, right?" The female mage responded as she entered the station.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to help you with your motion sickness." He was assured by her kind words.

"But how will you do that?" The pink haired boy wondered.

"You'll see." Both sat down in the train seat next to eachother. As the train departed Mirajane laid Natsu's head on her lap. His head didn't feel as explosive as usual when he was on transport, neither did his stomach feel like it was about to spit everything up his throat. He looked up to see the comforting smile of Mirajane.

"Told you I'd help you out." She brought out.

"How was I supposed to expect you'd be able to work this magic on me, you never cease to amaze me." A blush could be found on the face of the take over mage.

"But I didn't even use any magic." She muttered.

"I'm pretty sure what you're doing is qualified to be labeled as 'magic'." He stated, earning a giggle from the silver haired beauty. After a long train trip they arrive at the station in Clover Town. Natsu rushed out of the train, landing on all fours, shouting "I'M REVIVED", earning multiple strange looks his way. Mirajane pulled him up and led him out of the station.

"So where's this place we're supposed to be?" She held the request in her hand looking for the answer to the dragon slayer's question.

"Right about the middle of town, we have to see the mayor." She said, dropping the request in her backpack.

"Is it really that serious? Seems like we're facing some tough opponents, just the way I like it! I'm all fired up!" She smiled at his enthousiasm. It's always been something everybody admired about him, his fighting spirit. They quickly found their way to the center of town, noticing the big building that was most likely to resemble the Town Hall. Seeing a receptionist upon entering, they asked her when they could meet with the mayor.

"What do you need him for?" She asked curiously, it's naturally not very common for someone to just come in and ask for an audience with the mayor.

"We're mages from Fairy Tail, we're here to get rid of the 2 criminals." Natsu spoke up. The receptionist immediatly turned serious and alerted the mayor about their arrival through a communication lacrima. They were sent upstairs, finding the mayor's room with ease. They entered to see a man sitting on a chair twice his size behind a giant desk.

"So you are the mages from Fairy Tail, huh?" He asked. Both of the companions nodded.

"I see, take a seat if you will." They did as they were asked and awaited further intructions.

"These 2 bandits have been causing a huge deal of trouble to the town. So far we've sent 3 guilds their way and none have succeeded in eliminating the criminals."

"But those other guilds weren't us, were they now? Don't worry, we'll take care of them." Natsu spoke the confident words with no sign of fear.

"I see, Fairy Tail is said to be the strongest guild in all of Fiore. It seems you have a chance to prove that here then. You will be staying at the Honeybrew inn for as long as you require. The last known location of their camp was southwards of the Town but ofen they roam the streets searching for victims. This is why we wanted at least one female mage. You will dress up as harmless citizens incapable of the usage of magic. With such a beautiful lady as yourself he'll be sure to try and capture you." Mirajane smiled at the compliment she was given, however Natsu wasn't very pleased as a tick mark appeared on his head. "Say, how old are you exactly?" Were the words that echoed through the room before he decided to take action. He stood up from his chair and leaned towards the mayor. The latter could feel the fire from the dragon slayer's eyes burning straight through his soul. "I'm only going to say this once, she ... IS MINE!" He nearly yelled with a menacing voice. The mayor looked like he had just seen the devil as he tried to regain his composure. The take over mage was extremely pleased with Natsu's reaction. "That is all I have to say, I'm sure you will get rid of these criminals for us. Especially seeing at how protective you are towards her." At this Natsu pulled Mirajane up from her chair and dragged her out of the building.

Having slowed down and now walking at the same pace, Mirajane asked for the boy's attention.

"What is it, Mira?" He responded, predicting her to talk about what had happened at the mayor's office.

"Thanks ... For reacting the way you did." Natsu gave her a confused look and wondered what she meant.

"Hm?" He hummed at her.

"I don't know, I'm just happy you reacted the way you did. If it were any other, I probably would've been disappointed." She tried to clear his confusion.

"Oh ... I see. Well isn't it only natural I'd react that way?" He asked, still slightly confused.

"No, that was all your silly self, Natsu." She smiled while she said that, the dragon slayer could only give her his own smile in return. It was already late as they arrived at the inn they were supposed to stay during the job. After having to talk to yet another receptionist and explaing who they were and why they were here, they recieved the keys to their room and quickly made their way to it. As they entered they found it to be quite cozy. It was basically the size of Natsu's house minus the kitchen. Natsu was the first one to make his way to the bedroom, seeing there was only one double bed. He stood there, frozen at the thought of him sleeping in the same bed as Mirajane. The take over mage noticed him standing in the door opening, not moving an inch.

"What's wrong, Natsu?" She was curious what had shocked the dragon slayer to this extent. She saw him pointing a weak finger in a direction. As she went to check out what caused his current state she could only silently giggle at his discomfort.

"Could it be that you don't want to sleep in one bed with me?" She pouted.

"N-No ... B-but I like ... I've ... I ... " He muttered as a finger rushed to his mouth, silencing him. Mirajane guided him with slow steps towards the bed. He was laid down as Mirajane went to ly on top of him. They were now staring in eachother's eyes. The silver haired girl closed the distance between them, sweat was dropping from the dragon slayer's face. She remained frozen when they were a mere inch away from eachother, until she finally dropped her soft lips on his own. At first the pink haired boy was in pure shock, but soon he closed his eyes deepening the kiss. After a while Mirajane lifted her head and looked at his pleasured smile.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked, the dragon slayer quickly shook his head and pulled her closer until their lips met once again.

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Another chapter done! Woot first kiss! :D Thanks again for the time you spent reading this. I hope everybody's enjoying the story so far and I'll be sure to continue it.


	5. Chapter 5

Light made it's way through the window, shining on the dragon slayer's eyes. Slowly waking up from his slumber, he could smell a scent he doesn't usually detect when he wakes up. Trying to think of what it is, he could hear moaning besides him. He turned around to see a beautiful, silver haired girl lying besides him under the sheets that had protected her from the cold of the night, the same sheets that covered his own body. Both slept in their Pyjama's. Natsu stared at her face for a while, it was when she slowly awoke that he directed his eyes towards the ceiling. " 'Morning, Mira!" He greeted her, she muttered something that hardly anyone could understand. " 'Morning ... Nat .. su" The dragon slayer understood through his sensitive hearing. She pushed her face deeper into her pillow, trying to cover it from the light that was shining on them both.

"So what's our plan for today?" Mirajane sat up and let her eyes get used to the light.

"We'll be searching for clothes to dress up as common civilians." She stated. The dragon slayer nodded, "You wanna go first?" He asked her while pointing at the bathroom.

"I think I better, who knows what I might find in there after you're done." She teased him, earning her an annnoyed pout from the dragon slayer. She left for the bathroom while grinning at him. Natsu laid back down and thought about his objective. He didn't want to bring Mirajane in too much danger since she was supposed to be the bait, though he knew she could handle herself. He also knew he could track her down from miles away. He stood up and walked towards the door leading to the bathroom, picking up his clothes on the way. Stopping at the door, he leaned against the wall next to it. Patiently awaiting his turn, he was thinking about how they would handle the situation.

Mirajane opened the door and appeared from it. "Oh, hi there! I'm all done, your turn!" She called out to him, he nodded and entered the bathroom. She wondered what got him so serious. She was just looking out the window when he entered the room, it caught her attention "So ... Are you ready to head out?" She asked. Catching a grin from the dragon slayer she heard him say "Of couse I am! Now let's get out of here!" While motioning her to get moving as he guided her to the streets.

"So now we just gotta find ourselves a clothing store" The dragon slayer stated, both just walked through the town while holding hands, hoping to come across a clothing store. They had covered their faces with hoods as they didn't want the subjects of the request they had gotten to notice them and post 'mage' on the image of their faces. After lots of grumbling from Natsu's stomach, he asked if they could eat somewhere.

"Not until we wear the clothing we need." She exclaimed, recieving a glance of the pouting face of her companion. Soon enough they finally stumbled across a clothing store.

"Ok, seems like we finally found one." The pink haired boy was excited since he was close to his first meal of the day. After going through lots of different combinations of skirts, jackets, pants, shorts, vests, shirts, ... Mirajane had selected the clothing she liked the most out of all of them.

"I'll be trying these on, and don't you peek!" She commanded as she pointed an accusing finger to the dragon slayer. Natsu shook his head and waved his hands in front of him, symbolizing his innocence.

He went to try out his own clothing Mirajane had selected for him. They both finished changing simultaniously as they checked on one another after getting out of the changing cabin. Both were looking good in the clothes that, in the first place, covered their guild marks, secondly, matched, and in the third place, made them look like common townsfolk. They couldn't help but stare at eachother, being seen in another style of clothing could turn someone very appealing. Both nodded in approval as they went to pay for the clothes that were appropriate for the job.

"So then, can we finally go eat?" Natsu hoped for an affirmative response, his companion nodded in approval. Soon Natsu could be seen rushing through the streets, following the scent to the closest place that served delishious food. After waiting for his partner to catch up, both entered the building the dragon slayer had smelled. It was a calm place that few people were at. The tranquillity in combination with the style the room was decorated in allowed for an atmosphere perfect for a nice breakfast. They found their seats at a table for two people. Soon a waiter server the menu to the both of them.

"I have no idea what this all is, so I'll take it all!" Mirajane slightly laughed at his agitation while the dragon slayer's eyes roamed through the menu.

"We don't have that kind of money, Natsu!" She reminded the boy of their funds as his eyes displayed disappointment.

"Why don't you just order one at random?" She asked the boy.

"Alright, then I'll take this!" He spoke as he looked up and pointed at a random meal.

"Coming right up, fine sir. And what will it be for the beautiful lady?" Was the waiter's response.

"I'll just have what he took." She replied as he nodded and left, taking the two menu's with him.

"So, when this guy shows up and tried to get a hold of you... " Natsu started.

"I'll just follow your smell to their camp, only there we can be sure we got everyone in one place. Until then you just play the damsel in the distress. I won't let anything happen to you, though I know you're strong enough to handle yourself. But we don't know if they got some sort of charm spell or not, that might be how they got so much done until now." Mirajane wasn't used to the pink haired boy thinking ahead like that.

"You sure seem like you figured it all out, was that what you were thinking about this morning?" She remembered how the dragon slayer looked serious at that time.

"Well ... Yeah, I'm worried about you." He explained. Mirajane reached out for his hand as she tried to comfrot him.

"Don't, like you said, I can handle myself quite well. And if I can't, I got you to back me up." She smiled at those last words. He couldn't help but feel happy with that smile.

"Haha, you're right. That's annoying, Mira. Stop being correct all the time!" He smiled at her, she laughed at the statement.

"But it's times like these where such a skill is the most useful of all, don't you agree?" She justified it.

"There you go again!" Natsu let out, giving her his most sincere grin.

Soon they got their meals served to them. If you asked Natsu what he had aten he could only reply with 'food' as it was empty before he could get a proper look at it. Mirajane however took a more delicate approach. After paying the bill they went back to just wandering through town. They hadn't noticed a hooded figure following them until Natsu spoke up.

"The same smell has been lingering behind us ever since we've eaten." In other words, they were being followed. They entered a dark alley to encourage the hooded person to engage. The mysterious man thought they were gonna do some lovey dovey stuff as he peeked around the corner to see the boy pressing the girl against the wall, pressing his lips against hers.

"A real beauty she is, I'll be borrowing her if you don't mind." He said as the both of them turned to face him. A magic circle appeared in front of his hand, the same one appeared beneath Mirajane. A blinding purple light concealed all vision in the alley. As the light faded Natsu looked over at the silver haired girl to see that all emotion had left her face and eyes.

"Now why don't you be a good girl and come over here?" The man asked. Mirajane walked over to him, obeying every single order he gave her.

"Mira!" Natsu shouted, recieving no answer from the take over mage.

"Give it up, fool! She's mine now." The man claimed Mirajane as he charged up an arcane blast pointing at Natsu. The blast met his body as it was slammed against the back wall with force. Natsu held in a huge amount of rage as he watched them man walk away with Mirajane following him.

'Mira ...'


	6. Chapter 6

He made sure he wouldn't get distracted by any other scent but hers. The dragon slayer rushed through town, following the scent of his loved one.

'I just hope the spell will wear off when I defeat him.' Natsu thought to himself. He made sure he wouldn't get close enough for them to see him but he had to keep track of their scent. He was not gonna lose Mirajane to some pair of bandit perverts.

After a little while he entered the forest by Clover Town, still keeping track of that same scent. He hoped the man hadn't done anything to her on the way there. Soon he noticed they had stopped and now took a more delicate approach towards their location. As he found a proper hiding spot by some overgrown bushes, he looked for the presence of anyone around the camp. He could count only 3 people here, of which one is Mirajane. He figured their other victims were transported to another location or something along those lines.

Soon Natsu could see the 3 of them crawling outside, the take over mage still under the effects of the spell. He only clenched his fists looking at how they toyed with her like she was only meant to be used like that. He promised himself he wouldn't screw it up with his impatience, that's the last thing he'd want to do. After a while one of the bandits left for town and Mirajane and the man that had charmed her were left alone, he figured this was his best oppertunity to strike. As soon as the man sat down with his back turned towards Natsu, he rushed out going in for a surprise attack. The man looked to see what the rustling came from only to get a flaming fist in his face, flying through one of the tents and destroying it with the force of the blow.

"Give Mirajane back, you scum!" Natsu shouted at him, provoking him as he was studying his opponent's reaction.

"I already told you to give it up, boy. She's mine now, nothing you can do about it. It's not like you'll be able to defeat me in battle!" He yelled back, clearly underestimating the dragon slayer.

"Wanna put that to the test?" The pink haired boy smirked as his opponent laughed, accepting his challenge. The first move was made by the enemy as he charged up a barrage of white arcanery. Natsu attempted to dodge them by flipping left and right, jumping, rolling ... but he couldn't avoid getting hit by at least one of them around his shoulder.

"Argh!" It had a stinging effect. The man grinned at the boy, giving him an "Is that all you got?" grin.

Natsu countered with a roar of the fire dragon, only to be consumed by a magic circle appearing in front of the man. Natsu studied how his roar simply got absorbed, figuring physical attacks were the way to go. He rushed his way towards him, dodging the incoming projectiles and preparing for a Fire Dragon's Cleave attack. Both his hands slashed at him creating one whide fire sword that slashed straight through him. The man got sent flying once again as the attack connected. He struggled to get up and smirked

"I guess it's time to play dirty." The criminal grinned as he charged a blast that was surrounded by lightning. Natsu prepared to dodge the attack but noticed the man changed targets. The blast was fired towards the idly standing Mirajane. Natsu thrusted towards her using his fire, pushing her out of the way as the blast scratched his back. He landed flat on the ground next to Mirajane. He tried to get up but his body went numb, he was paralyzed!

"Hehe, oh man that never gets old. You good guys always puting yourself at risk for the safety of others, I so counted on that!" He smirked as Natsu looked at him with a pissed off glare.

"Well I'll just leave you there for a bit 'til my partner comes back and we'll deal with you then." The man turned around.

Natsu checked if he could still control his magic, he summoned a couple of flames at his finger tips. This is where the magic training with Mirajane came in handy, he had increased his control over his magic by a lot. It was time to put a new trick to use. He summoned flames all around his body. Struggling to get up, he grinned towards his enemy. The man turned around to see Natsu smirk at him.

"H-How are you standing? You shouldn't be able to move!" He yelled in amazement. But got sent flying as Natsu charged at him once again.

"I'm not using a single muscle in my body, I am indeed incapable of utilizing those right now. I'm merely controlling the fire around my body." He explained his movements. The man was in shock at how the flames were the ones doing the actual work. Soon enough he couldn't worry about it any longer though, hence he was out cold. Natsu immediatly turned to check on Mirajane, he was unable to touch her though since the flames would hurt her and without them he was unable to move. He was relieved as he saw her expressionless face fill with emotion once again.

"N-Natsu? What happened?" She asked. Looking around, trying to think of where she was. Natsu explained the situation as she looked at the flames surrounding him, surprised he was able to control his magic to this extent.

"Thank you, Natsu." He grinned, happy he was able to protect her.

"Well well, what do we have here? Looks like that idiot did something stupid again." The partner of the now knocked out man showed up, holding another girl.

"You handle this one, Mira. I think I might just nap for a bit." Natsu extinguished the flames around him and fell down to the ground. The silver haired mage transformed into her Satan Soul form and prepared to face the bandit.

"A take over mage, huh? Interesting." The man smirked as he transformed into a scorpion-like humanoid. "Two can play that game" He laughed as they both engaged in a fight of physical strength. Mirajane knew she couldn't win when it came to physical strength since he had the advantage in size and had a tail to support him. She place her hands on the arm she had dodged for an Evil Spark. She backed off as her opponent was in a crouching position, catching his breath. She prepared a dark energy between both of her palms.

"Evil Explosion!" Our take over mage shouted as a powerful dark blast connected with the man. He was lying down, struggling to get up. Mirajane jumped high up until she was straight above him and prepared even more dark energy in her hands. The man looked up in shock as he saw a huge amount of dark energy raining down upon him.

"Soul Extinction!" The silver haired mage yelled. The attack faded to reveal some knocked out bandit scum. Mirajane went over to Natsu to wake him up. Natsu opened his eyes and asked if she really beated him that quick.

"I just made a nice transition to magic to get the upper hand, from that point on I just combo'd him down." She smirked, the dragon slayer nodded at how simple yet effective it turned out to be.

"I was really worried about you, Mira." He stated. Mirajane shook her head and smiled at him.

"I told you I'd be fine as long as you're around." She lifted the dragon slayer on his feet. Feeling the paralysis fading from his body, they alerted the local authorities about their success on the job. Not a few minutes later they could see a bunch or Rune Knights marching towards their location.

"You two did a good job, go talk to the mayor for your reward." The captain instructed. Both of the mages nodded and walked towards the inn they were staying at to recover their strength. As soon as they entered the room both just crashed into the bed, snuggling up to eachother as they drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everybody! Putting AN at the top for once to respond to the revs of last chapter. I want to thank everybody for showing their support in the story and trying to help me out, it means a huge deal to me. I've decided to round things up and do a time skip to Lisanna's event (Because I think her disappearance is a huge potential milestone for this potential relationship). I'll keep the canon events in mind but I'll try to drift off from them as much as I can. How I'll do that, I do not know. We'll see when I get there ;) Anyway here's the next chapter I hope I didn't bother you all with the waiting!

* * *

The next morning was a peaceful one. The take over mage was still in the dragon slayer's embrace as they were sleeping. Rays of light from the morning sun took a liking to their fair skin. It was the silver haired girl who woke up first out of the two of them. She felt a strange pressure around her wraist, looking up to see the face of a pink haired boy that had accompanied her during the cold night. Happines poured from the radiance of her face. She remembered how Natsu looked when she woke up and thought of how brave he must've fought in order to protect her. She felt like nothing in the world could stop her as long as he was around her. She remained silent for a couple more minutes until the stomach of the dragon slayer started to rumble. She giggled before jumping up in surprise as the dragon slayer raised from his lying position in a swift move and was now standing straight on top of the bed.

" 'Morning, Mira!" He shouted as it was the most normal thing in the world. Mirajane still looked at the pink haired boy still with a slightly shocked expression.

"Exactly how energetic do you get, Natsu? It was only yesterday you looked like you finally ran out of fuel, I thought I'd never see the day." She teased the dragon slayer as she giggled.

"Which made me appreciate the sleep all that much more! Not you?" Natsu asked the silver haired maiden, recieving a nod in agreement from her.

"Of course, now it appears that you still need to regain another component of your energy." She grinned while pointing at what had awoken him.

"You're right, let's get going!" He yelled in anxiety.

"And you intend to leave, dressed like that?" She raised an eyebrow with another one of her sinister grins covering her beautiful face. Natsu looked down to notice he was stripped down to his boxers.

"Hu- What?! When did I undress?" He wondered as he stood in a thinking pose, trying to recall what happened last night.

"You didn't, I did. I wasn't as worn out as you were, since you were the one saving me. Oh ... And thanks again for that!" The dragon slayer recieved as an explenation, he shook his head as he spoke.

"I would easily do that again if it was to protect you. Right now you are of no doubt the most important person in my life." The silver haired maiden smiled with happiness at his declaration.

"You could easily beat Igneel, well ... Not in a fight though." He smirked while rubbing the back of his head.

"Is that so? Am I really no match for him?" Mirajane wondered as she cornered the dragon slayer.

"It's not like you're no match for him. It's just that your magic doesn't allow you to damage him in any shape or form." She was disappointed the boy got out of the situation she brought him in so easily.

"Anyway, why don't we get dressed and find ourselves some breakfast?" Natsu suggested. Mirajane nodded as she was pulled from the bed by the dragon slayer.

"Don't worry, I won't peek." The dragon slayer promised as he left for the bathroom. Mirajane got herself dressed while thinking about their relationship.

'We really love eachother but when will we say so?' She wondered as the dragon slayer knocked, asking for permission to exit.

"Sure, go ahead and come in!" She shouted, Natsu reacted by opening the door. They were both wearing the regular clothing they had been wearing before the mission.

"Alright, let's go!" Both left for the streets and went to the same restaurant they had eaten the day beforehand. Out of pure nostalgia, a random meal was picked once again.

"So, will we explain the guild when we get back?" Mirajane asked the boy in front of her with slim eyes.

"I guess we owe 'em that much." Natsu said with his trademark grin.

"Besides I'm pretty sure they know right now, so we might as well make it official." Her eyes glanced at the word 'official'. She then nodded as she reached to hold his hand.

Once again Natsu's meal could barely be seen before it disappeared into the stomach of the dragon slayer. Natsu waited patiently for Mirajane to finish her meal, talking about how they looked during the job. They both liked wearing matching clothes, it made them feel like their bond was visual. After the silver haired maiden had also finished her meal they both went to talk to the mayor. Entering the Town Hall, the receptionist noticed them. Immediatly calling the mayor, she motioned them to go upstairs.

"It seems like they already know, makes it easier for us!" Natsu grinned at her, Mirajane giggled in response to Natsu's enthousiastic reaction. After knocking, both entered the mayor's office. He could be found in the same chair he was sittin in last time, motioning both of them to sit down.

"I hear you were succesful at the job. Were there any casualties?" The man asked concerned.

"No. The man didn't need to harm anyone to take them captive, he used some sort of charm spell that made the target act completely under his will." Natsu explained.

"And he used this spell on your partner?" The mayor asked, Nasu nodded.

"So I assume you just beated him to a pile of ash out of utter rage, and that worked?" The mayor raised an eyebrow.

"No, I would never act so blunt if Mirajane's well-being was on the line." He replied, Mirajane could only smile at the response Natsu had given.

"I see." He looked over at Mirajane. "You are in great care with him, young one." He complimented the dragon slayer. The man payed them both for the job they had completed. They were now on their way to the station.

"Not this again ..." Natsu muttered as he looked at the station, reliving the horrible memories of transport.

"Don't worry, I'll just work my magic again!" The silver haired maiden supported him. They entered the train to Magnolia. Sitting next to eachother, Natsu laid his head on Mirajane's lap. He felt all the sickness lift as he drifted off to sleep. Mirajane looked intently at the dragon slayer's sleeping face. For almost 30 minutes she had been studying the boy's features. Then she directed her eyes towards the scenery outside the train.

Natsu jumped out of the train at Magnolia station. Overjoyed to feel solid ground beneath his feet. "We're back!" He stated. The girl behind him grabbed his arm, walking with him towards the guild.

"So then, we're really gonna tell them?" Natsu asked her one last time. She nodded, tellling him she was ready. Upon entering the guild, everyone went silent while staring at the couple.

"You all probably figured it out by now. But we've got something to announce." Natsu was the first to speak up.

"You're together, aren't you?" Gray responded.

"Well ... Yeah, pretty much." The dragon slayer grinned, rubbing the back of his head.

"How did that even happen?" Lisanna wondered as she spoke the words out loud.

"Can we handle the annnoying questions after the party?" Mirajane asked. Everyone raised their liquor as the guild provided the streets of Magnolia once again with the usual sounds of joy and laughter.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey, back with another chapter! To everybody that hasn't already, please go read the updated chapter 7. While trying to change the AN chapter to the actual chapter 7. Someone told me they didn't get the update so I decided to remove and then reupload the chapter. After it took such a long time to finally update the same friend told me that he couldn't review. I hope the issues with the chapter are fixed and that you can all continue to enjoy the story! Again, thanks everybody for the kind words that have been review'd/PM'd. I'm really surprised to see how much support this story is actually getting. Sorry for the inconvenience and on to the next chapter! It's an extra long one so I hope you all enjoy it!

Deep down in the forest, a custom made house could be found. A house that was small and cozy, made mostly out of wood. It wasn't luxurious but it didn't have to be. It's this house in which we could find a sleeping 16 year old fire dragon slayer. As he woke up, he released the same grumbling and moaning he always did at the start of the day. Next to him was a 17 year old take over mage. A silver haired beauty with a curvacious body and an already ample bozem. It always made him feel happy to see that same body next to her every day when he woke up. Natsu kissed her forehead and went off towards the kitchen.

'Some pancakes will do that trick, not that I can make anything else.' He chuckled at his knowledge of only one recipe, and an easy one at that.

Mirajane opened her eyes to see that she was missing out on her personal heater, she could hear a sizzling sound from the kitchen. Grabbing a couple more blankets for her own comfort, she patiently awaited the pink haired boy to call out for her. After a few minutes he did so, the silver haired maiden crawled out of the pile of blankets while making her way towards the kitchen. Natsu turned around to see Mirajane in nothing but her nightgown. The slightly transparent, loose hanging nightwear could always catch the dragon slayer's eyes. She noticed him holding something back, grinning at the thought of how easy it was to stimulate his primitive senses.

"B-Breakfast's ready!" He nervously claimed. The woman nodded and sat down, watching the pink haired man in front of her fill her place with some good looking and smelling pancakes.

"At least you improved. Not that you can make anything else but they're better than last time." She teased the dragon slayer. Natsu chuckled at her comment, taking it as a compliment and grinning at her. Both dug into the meal that had been served, it didn't take long before all of the pancakes were vaporized from existance. Natsu patted his stomach, the woman next to him chuckled at the gesture of satisfaction.

"That was nice, but there's still room in that cute head of yours for more than just pancakes, right?" Natsu raised his shoulders, recieving a chuckle from the girl with him. He stood up and held his hand out towards the female mage.

"Let's go, we can get rid of the dishes tonight." Mirajane laid her hand in his and nodded. They left for the city of Magnolia. Upon entering the first street of the city they could already hear the guild. They knew something was up when the master raised his voice to this extent. Both started running towards the guild. Everybody looked at the pair, including the master. They looked around them wondering what was going on.

"Mirajane, thank god you're here! We've got an emergency S-class mission I need you to prepare for depart right now!" The master shouted. She looked shocked, as did Natsu. Mirajane nodded and told her fellow siblings to prepare as well.

"What's the mission, gramps?" Natsu questioned. The master told them about a giant beast assaulting a nearby town. They needed immediate assistance as the beast easily overwhelmed the local forces.

All of the Strauss siblings and the dragon slayer rushed the minimal amount of supplies they would need on an emergency mission like this and ran for the station. Natsu tried to hold in as much as possible, seeing how serious the mission was. Which was only made possible by the help of Mirajane, who had a worrisome look in her eyes.

"Don't worry, we'll be alright. I won't let anything happen to any of you!" Natsu promised, looking at Mirajane's absent stare. She returned her eyes to him as she smiled, he could always make her feel better. They arrived at the city in distress and immediatly ran out looking for the nearest guard, who informed them the beast could be found at the southern walls of the city. Getting closer, they could hear the roars echoing through the street. They could see it towering over the wall, smacking it's way through the guards towards the city.

"We can't let it enter, we must defeat it outside the town." Mirajane ordered. All nodded and rushed towards the gate.

"Lisanna, I want you to take off to the air and check for nearby civilians and guards that are in danger or close by, get them out of here!" Lisanna flew off in the shape of a bird leaving the 3 mages to face the beast.

"Natsu, you'll be taking the front dealing as much damage as you can. I'll try to support you with ranged attacks. Elfman, I need you to flank him and weaken his legs so that we can bring him down with ease." Mirajane took charge as everybody got in position.

"Let's see what you got, you look like an over-sized vulgar. Show me if that's true or not!" Natsu provoked the beast. It rushed towards Natsu in anger. The dragon slayer stood in his battle stance and engulfed himself in flames, increasing his strength, speed and agility by controlling the flames surrounding him. He prepared for the impact as the beast brought it's fist down upon him. Natsu blocked the attack with both of his arms, supported by the strength his flames gave him. As soon as they made contact he made his flames surround the beast's wrist, after that the flames pinned down into the ground. Leaving the beast's right arm immobilized. Behind him Mirajane had charged up some energy and prepared to throw it at the animal. "Evil Explosion!" She shouted, the blast had made contact with the beast. Leaving severe bruises on it's face. Elfman was now to the left of the animal. "Beast Soul: Iron Bull!"He shouted. His arm was transforming to attain the physical properties of that of a bull. This arm now launched towards the beast's left leg. Before the thing could notice it he could feel his left leg snapping, leaving his left side unsupported. It stumbled over to the right as Natsu jumped over to it's left. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" The fire mage shouted as he brought flames of both his hands together into a sphere of fire., throwing it at the enemy. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Was another call from the man. He rushed to the beast at max speed. As he passed his previous attack the flames surrounding him increased in heat and intensity, increasing the power of his attack. The beast had landed on his back as he laid whide open for an incoming attack from the dragon slayer to his chest. As his head connected the beast roared in pain. Mirajane took the same position Natsu had been in a few seconds beforehand. She prepared another sphere of dark energy in between her palms. Shouting "Soul Extinction!" As she let the energy rain down upon the beast. Natsu quickly moved out of the way as another powerful attack connected with the beast's center. It was completely worn out as it laid there motionless.

"Elfman, try to take it over, now!" recieving a surprised stare from the male Strauss sibling.

"I said now!" She yelled. The man nodded and rushed towards the beast.

"Natsu, keep the thing still so that Elfman will have an easier time doing what he's got to do." natsu nodded while jumping on the beast's chest. Making his flames take the shape of chains, binding the beast around it's middle.

"This better work!" He muttered as he sweat at the amount of magic energy he had used in the fight.

Elfman placed his hands on the beast's chest as a magic circle appeared on the place they made contact.

"How long is this going to take?" Natsu asked the one in charge.

"Depends on the condition of the mage and the soul." She replied, she couldn't tell him how long it would take. After a few minutes the magic circle connecting elfman and the beast started to glow

"Did he do it?" the fire mage looked over at Mirajane. He could see a huge fear in her eyes.

"Mira, what's wrong?" Elfman disappeared in front of him.

"What just happened?" He wondered. The beast below him started to roar and struggle against the chains of fire.

"Mira, this thing seems like it just got all it strength back!" He could still see the girl in shock at what just happened.

"SNAP OUT OF IT, MIRA! I NEED YOU HERE!" Natsu yelled at her. The silver haired mage looked over at him to see the serious expression he had. A giant purple bunny landed on top of the beast's head.

"LISANNA!" Both shouted.

"I can fight too, you know." She told them, annoyed.

"Then you better show that off right here and now!" Came from Natsu. The young take over mage nodded. She jumped up and prepared to land on the beast again. It finally cut the chains loose and smacked Lisanna away before she could hit it.

"LISANNA!" Mirajane's despair could be heard in her voice. She went air-born and rushed towards her enemy.

"Natsu, you don't exactly look like you can handle much more. Try to bring in some damage with long ranged attacks." The dragon slayer nodded. Swiftly dodging each of the beast's strikes, she planted her palms on it's chest.

"Evil Spark!" With dark electricity running through it's body, the muscles of the beast felt slightly numb. His attacks weakened and movement slowed down.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" a stream of fire was sent from Natsu's mouth towards the beast, due to it's numbness it was unable to dodge. Mirajane had taken this time to prepare for another attack.

"Evil Explosion!" She launched another one of these spheres at the enemy. The beast turned so it barely scratched his shoulder. A giant hand slapped her down to the ground, with a crash she landed in the rock-hard surface. The beast was rushing towards her, but got hit in the face by a pair of rabbit feet. Lisanna looked bruised up, she wasn't as experienced in fighting as her fellow siblings. But she knew she could do something else for them. She could only try to make Elfman come to his senses at this point.

Lisanna took her human form again, standing in front of the giant beast.

"Elf-niichan! Come back to us!" She said while spreading her arms. The beast looked at her for a while before slowly raising it's arm. Mirajane widened her eyes as she was about to shout for Lisanna to run. The beast swung it's arm and sweeped Lisanna away like she was but an insect.

"LISANNA!" Mirajane shouted in despair, watching her sister fly through the air towards the city. Tears started flowing, her eyes showed fear. The dragon slayer stepped in front of her and stared intently at the beast.

"Go check on Lisanna, I'll handle Elfman." The take over mage behind him reached for him, grabbing his hand.

"GO!" He shouted, not looking away from the beast. Mirajane let go of his hand in shock, she looked away and started running for where her sister supposedly was.

"I guess I'll have to finish this with one move, I won't get another shot." He spoke silently. Natsu spread his legs and moved his hands in a circular motion.

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Crimson Lotus Exploding Flame Blade!" He called out for the spell. A giant vortex of flames released fiery chains of explosions towards the beast. After the blinding spell had faded, Elfman could be seen lying unconscious on the ground. Natsu smiled at his victory and fell to the ground, completely out of magic energy.

Mirajane looked in the distance to see her younger sister. She was lying still on the ground, not moving an inch. She feared the worst and made a final sprint for her body.

"Lisanna!" She shouted, the younger sister looked at her.

"Are you ok? Are the other's alright?" She asked with a soft voice.

"Why would you worry about others? Look at you!" The older sibling cried.

"Because, if I'm going to put my life down for someone. I better make sure it wasn't for nothing, right?" A smile graced her face while saying this. Her sister looked down at her with the tears overflowing her face.

"You're not going to die! you can't die! You won't die!" Mirajane couldn't accept it. She couldn't accept her sister dying before her eyes.

"Mirajane, I hope Natsu will support you in the days to come. You two are definitely amazing together. Promise me you won't let your life get ruined by grief." Lisanna made her last wish as she floated up to the sky, a golden light surrounding her.

"I won't, I promise." More tears flowed. She would at least see her sister off with a smile on her face. Lisanna's image disappeared from the sky together with the blinding light. The older sister sat down for a few more minutes crying. She stood up, realizing the others were still up the hill. She only hoped they hadn't died as well. Walking up the hill, she was relieved to see Natsu and Elfman were both merely unconscious and still alive. Afer the both of them waking up and a painful confession to them. They all were saddened by the loss.

Arriving at the guild with the expression on their face, the painful questions everybody had were spoken. Natsu was the one that told everybody what had happened. In the forest, near a place Lisanna liked to be. They made a grave for her. Elfman visited the grave daily and Mirajane was on Natsu's bed, crying most of the time. This went on for 3 days straight. Natsu found Elfman at the grave at the usual time. The dragon slayer walked up to the man.

"Elfman, are you a man?" The sobbing of the male take over mage stopped.

"Lisanna laid her life for all of us to live ours. She would've wanted you to live like the man you always were. Are you that man, Elfman?" Elfman looked up to the fire mage. Watching the shadow his hair produced over his eyes. He stood up and bumped Natsu's shoulder with his fist.

"I'm the manliest of men. You know that, Natsu." He laughed. Natsu was happy Elfman could smile again, and give him his signature grin.

"I'm not gonna let either of you let your life get taken over by grief, live your life for Lisanna if not for anything else." Elfman nodded. Natsu walked home, he could still hear the sound of a crying Mirajane echo in his mind. Upon entering his house he could hear the sound the had been there for the last couple of days. Natsu didn't want to see or hear Mirajane cry. It was the worst thing in the world. He entered his own bedroom, seeing the silver haired woman sitting on the bed.

"Are you going to waste the life Lisanna left you with?" He recieved a shocked look from the girl in front of him.

"Lisanna put down her own life for ours. I won't let you waste that life with grief. You can't let Lisanna die for nothing. You need to live, live for Lisanna!" Mirajane looked at him like her life was about to change.

"Natsu ... Stop ... Being so ... God damn ... Cute." She muttered while slowly moving towards the dragon slayer. Mirajane brought her arms around his waist, bringing him into a closed hug. Natsu brought his arms around her as well, Mirajane missed the heat of his embrace. It was comforting.

"Mira, I've been thinking about something." Natsu started.

"What is it?" She questioned the fire mage.

"Do you want something like that to ever happen again?" She looked down, slowly shaking her head.

"Neither do I, that's why I want to become stronger. So I can protect my nakama, no matter who we're facing! That's why ... I want to go on a journey, to train. But I won't leave without you. Will you come with me?" Mirajane looked up at Natsu. She could see how serious he was.

"I won't ever leave your side. You're the most important person in my life." She spoke, Natsu tightened the hug they were in.

"Mira, I love you." The silver haired maiden only looked with wide eyes at the words he just spoke. Only to quickly dive into his chest with tears in her eyes.

"I love you too, Natsu."


	9. Chapter 9

Alright from this point on I think I'll be putting in some timeskips here and there. Don't know how or what yet but we'll see. It's kind of late right now as I went to bed at 8am and woke up at 4pm. :P So let's hope I can write to the best of my abilities. But usually I wrote at like 2am or something so it should be fine. Les go!

Mirajane and Natsu were returning from a job they had just completed. They just wanted a bit more jewels before they would depart.

"Well, that went smooth." The boy stated. Placing his hands behind his head, they kept walking towards their house. Ever since the Lisanna incident Mirajane was living with Natsu, that had been about 2 weeks ago. As they arrived home, they checked up on everything and their luggage. They had agreed to go on a journey to become stronger, they were preparing to embark on that journey. The day after the couple woke up really early in the morning, it was to head to the guild before anyone else would be there.

"Are you ready for this?" Mirajane asked the boy, Natsu nodded. Entering the guild, they left an envelope they had prepared on the master's desk. Then made their way to the train station. Waiting for the earliest train, they sat on a bench silently.

"I'm kind of excited, but it's also hard. This would be a lot harder if you weren't here though." Our fire mage broke the silence and smiled. His love only grinned at the statement.

"But we're doing this together, for the better. And we'll get to see lots of places and we'll grow stronger." She looked up with her dreamy eyes. Soon enough, the train arrived and it was time for them to leave the city they had been in for the most of their lives.

Master Makarov was the first one to make it to the guild. It was silent in the morning and he liked it that way, for at least a little while. Preparing a nice drink for himself, he went up to his office. Noticing the envelope Natsu and Mirajane had left him, he raised an eyebrow.

"What's this, something from that stupid council?" He wondered out loud. He opened the envolope, took out a letter and read it's content.

_Master,_

_by the time you read this, we'll be gone. Myself, Natsu, and Mira are leaving on a journey. One to become stronger, to make sure we'll never be too weak again. We'll never let nakama die in front of us anymore. When we come back, we'll have grown in strength by at least two times. We don't know how or where or what we're going to, but we'll go. Please, be safe without us. Tell the guild what you want but we at least want you to know. We'll make you proud, master._

_P.S.: If Fairy Tail's ever in a pinch and there is no other way. You can summon us by using the item with this letter. It's only a one-time use, so make sure you don't waste it!_

A token with a fire dragon engraved on it was stapled to the letter. Master Makarov carefully removed it from the letter and stared at it for a while. He tightened his grip on the token before finding a safe location for it in his office. The door opened as the crackling sound of the wood budging made it's way to Makarov's ears. He went to check the person that had just entered the guild. Erza looked over at the master before he descended down to greet her.

" 'Morning, Erza!" The master greeted one of his brats.

"Goodmorning, master." She humbly spoke while looking over at the request board.

"Anything new?" The master shook his head. Erza took place at the bar and just waited for some more people to show up, hoping they'd amuse her or ask her out on a job. Later that day, when everybody from the guild was present - except for the obvious two - Master Makarov spoke up.

"SILENCE, BRAAATS!" The entire guild went silent at these words.

"I have an announcement to make." The master lowered his voice.

"As you all may have noticed, Mira and Natsu aren't here today. And they won't be here for a while. I don't ... Even they don't know for how long." He recieved stares from almost every direction. Some scared, some shocked, some angry.

"They left to get stronger, so that they never had to watch their nakama die in front of them. I hope you all respect the choice they made." Makarov left for his office. Everyone sat still, letting what they had just heard sink into their mind. Natsu and Mira would be gone for sometime they don't know.

**Meanwhile elsewhere at the same time**

"Let's get a drink in this place and see what people around here are like. We might catch something out of it!" Natsu proposed. Mirajane nodded, they entered the bar as they recieved a few sinister stares from the people inside. They sat down at the counter and ordered their drinks.

"Why don't you see what you can get out of their talks, Natsu?" Mirajane suggested after a while. Natsu was eavesdropping on the conversations around him. Most were just wondering who they were, but behind them there were a couple staring at the take over mage next to him with perverted smiles.

"Could you keep your perverted thoughts to yourself, thank you very much." Natsu hissed.

"What're you gonna do 'bout it, kid?" The man laughed. Natsu looked over at Mirajane with that certain look. She knew what he thought and nodded in approval. Natsu stood up and hit the man that spoke up to the other side of the bar.

"What the hell, man!" One of the other perverts yelled at Natsu.

"I see you let go of the 'kid', smart move. He asked what I was gonna do, so I showed him." Natsu smirked at the two. Another man stood up.

"You think you can just come in here and start punching people? I'll show you, kid!" The man made the same mistake as the previous one and also suffered the same fate. Natsu had a knack for causing brawls wherever he goes, it seems. A tall man with spikey, red hair and a cloak surrounding his boy watched him carefully from a corner. Natsu was now standing triumphantly on the pile of moaning bodies. The red-haired man walked up to Natsu.

"Follow me." He spoke silently as he passed the boy. Natsu found something about the voice very soothing but he couldn't point it out. He shrugged and followed the man, motioning for Mirajane to do the same. After a short while, the man stopped at a house and opened the door.

"You're free to stay here. I assume you're traveling with no particular assignment since you're far away from home with just the two of you. You're the salamander, correct? I was accompliced with the fire dragon slayer from the previous generation. I can teach you, if you'd like." The two teenagers before him looked shocked at what he just said. They were on a journey to become stronger and here a teacher for Natsu just appeared in front of them as the heavens were looking out for them.

"Is this a joke?" Natsu asked, recieving a chuckle from the old man.

"It sure as hell isn't, young one. I can help you with training. If you would want that of course." The red-head responded.

"The reason we left from home for a bit is to grow stronger. And here a mentor just shows up in my face! What about Mirajane?" The man looked over at the silver haired mage.

"Take over, is it not? I can't help you there. But there are some things I will teach you that you can both benefit from." Natsu looked over at Mirajane, they both nodded.

"Thank you very much, old man. We'll take you up on that offer." The man nodded.

"Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Izuma Kaichi. The son of the previous fire dragon slayer, Kazuma Kaichi." The man introduced himself. Both shook his hand and went inside to prepare for the night.

'How you've grown, Natsu ...' Izuma thought to himself.


	10. Chapter 10

Ok, next chapter coming up! I'm surprised you guys haven't figured anything about Izuma yet :D You'll all see soon enough, I think... Ah well. Let's got on with the chapter!

Natsu woke up in the bed he had shared with Mirajane. Opening his eyes slowly, he could see the spot next to him was empty. Stretching his arms and removing the sleep from his eyes. He managed to crawl out of bed and get dressed. Since no one had awoken him, he assumed it was about 11am. Descending down the stairs, he could see Mirajane at the table awaiting what smelled like breakfast.

"Ah, there you are! How'd you sleep?" This question made Natsu think about something. He had noticed how since Lisanna was gone, Mirajane had acted more openly and friendlier to people in general. She was changing from the tomboy she had always been into a kind and gentle woman.

'I hope it's not puberty.' The boy thought to himself. The take over mage noticed his absence.

"Natsu? I'm right here, what're you thinking about?" The pink haired boy's thoughts came back to him as he looked at Mirajane.

"Oh, sorry. Nothing important, I slept well. I hope you weren't too warm." He grinned. The girl chuckled.

"Of course not, you're always the right temperature." The boy moved his hands behind his head as he moved towards his seat.

"Is he cooking?" He wondered. Mirajane nodded, much to the boy's surprised.

"What's wrong with a man being able to cook? You do too, don't you?" She spoke. Natsu nodded and explained.

"I just didn't see that in him. It's not like we've known eachother for long or anything but cooking just wasn't my first impression of him." Mirajane stared at him for a little bit, the boy got kind of nervous at this.

"You're so bad at reading people." She chuckled. The fire mage intensified his look.

"Oh, so you knew it all along, huh?" He pouted. Recieving a gentle kiss on his cheek from the girl next to him.

"Of course I knew, you doubt me?" She pouted with a cute voice. Natsu of course immediatly felt bad.

"No, I don't. But, you ... Like ... I... Damn ... I don't owe you an explenation!" He repliad fiercely, turning his back to Mirajane. She giggled at how the dragon slayer responded.

"You're so cute when you're annoyed." The fire mage turned again, looking at her smiling, beautiful face. He couldn't hold back and straight out hugged her tightly. The girl naturally returned the hug. Izuma entered the room at that given moment (someone had to break them up, right?).

"Uh ... Am I interrupting?" Their faces started to blush at the sound of his voice. Both returned to their normal sitting position, red still covering their cheeks.

"Well, just build up your strength. This food will help with that, at least for Natsu." A beautiful, hot, intense flame was shoved towards him. After some time they could be found in a park nearby, sitting cross legged in front of eachother.

"Naturally, the first part of your training is to build up your energy and to prepare your magical power for the techniques I'll teach you." Izuma spoke.

"This is pretty much the only part that will benefit the take over mage as well, after that it's techniques that only you will be able to use, Natsu." He explained. After 3 hours of meditating Izuma broke the silence once again.

"Ok, that's enough for now. We'll continue for 2 more hours later, you're free to do whatever you want until then." The couple awoke from their trance. Smiling at eachother, they walked off while holding hands. They didn't know where they were going, but they were going together. He could only growl at every man they passed that was looking or talking perverted about Mirajane. Mirajane herself found it quite amusing to see her overprotective boyfriend do that.

"You're so cute when you're overprotective." She chuckled, Natsu looked over at her with a surprised look in his eyes.

"But they're talking perverted crap about you! My actions are completely justified!" The pink haired dragon slayer pouted, recieving a giggle from the girl with him.

"Maybe you're just cute in general." She stated. The boy raised his chin with pride at this.

"Of course I am! Did you think otherwise?" She couldn't stop smiling at the boy.

"Nope, but now you know too." She replied, he smiled back at her. They just wandered through the town, tasting the local meals, taking part in the local activities. Basically, doing what the local couples would do. After not too long they returned to where they were staying at the time to continue meditating for 2 more hours before they went to bed. They had spent most of their day together and were happy with the time they were given. The next day wouldn't be the same though, after breakfast they were located at the same spot as the day before.

"Today, we're going to try to unlock something Natsu. We're going to give you access to something similar to the twin dragon's white and shadow drive, only way stronger." The words sounded like music in Natsu's ears (This is not actually the fire drive, it's based off the thing he pulled in chapter 6 with the bandits).

"The first step to using this technique is to control your body with fire." Natsu took a thinking pose.

"I think I've already done that, Mirajane had helped me with that." the dragon slayer spoke.

"Oh, really? That makes things that much easier. I assume you're able to control the flames surrounding you to your benefit then?" Natsu nodded, Izuma continued.

"You'll have to let flames become your body, you're going to be a living flame." He explained. The couple looked wide-eyes at him.

"This isn't going to be achieved in a simple day, it will take time before you will be able to use it even once." Natsu nodded as he stood up.

"So how do I do it then?" He asked Izuma with a serious tone.

"Boy, you really are energetic aren't you? First, I want you to summon those flames around you. You're going to spend a lot of time trying to fuse with those flames, got it?" The adult asked.

"Understood, I'll just be over at that open spot with no trees surrounding it. Mirajane, I don't know how long this is going to take. You'll be fine, right?" Mirajane chuckled.

"Don't you worry about me when you're the one doing the actual work." The pink haired boy nodded as he walked over to the spot he would be sitting for quite some time.

"Can he really do that?" The silver haired take over mage asked Izuma.

"I believe he can. After all, he's the son of the almighty Igneel." He replied with an arrogant tone in his voice. Mirajane raised an eyebrow at this but just left it as it was. She left to go shop for some supplies, she'd be making dinner tonight. It would be the same dinner she had cooked for Natsu the first time, the dinner Lisanna had taught her to make.

Natsu sat down in a cross legged position, summoning his flames around him. He frowned as his muscles tensed up. He was obviously trying hard to do something he wasn't even sure how to do. He imagined eating the flames that Igneel roared at him when he was younger. His skin was clenching onto the flames around his body. Slowly but surely, the flames were clenching to his body. In his thoughts, those flames were his father's. He wanted to have those flames close to him, to feel their warmth. The fire took a liking to the boy's body as it slowly started to burn closer to him. After about an hour, the boy was pulled out his trance. He opened what used to be his eyes. Natsu looked down at his body, which wasn't exactly his body anymore. His body had the same properties as fire, he wasn't made of flesh and blood anymore. He WAS fire. He stood up on the flames the were supposed to be his legs and made his way to Izuma. Mirajane was with him just talking about some stuff. Both turned to look at the fire dragon slayer in shock. Izuma was the most surprised.

"A-Already?! I didn't think you'd do it in the week!" He yelled. A fiery grin appeared on Natsu's fire face.

"I guess I'm just talented." He chuckled, brining his arms behind his head. He then got a weird expression on his face and roared in pain.

"Yeah ... Talented. Don't worry it's normal, for the first time." Izuma explained. Natsu fainted as his flames subsided to make place for his normal body.

"Is he going to be ok?" A worried Mirajane asked, rushing to his unconscious body.

"Yeah. Like I said, it's normal for the first time. We just gotta let him rest and restore his magic energy, you have no idea how much that technique takes out of it's user." He replied. A sigh of relief could be heard from the take over mage.

"I don't think you should worry, I know I wouldn't if I had someone like you to take care of me." He laughed, Mirajane smiled at the compliment. Natsu was dragged inside by the two of them and left on his bed. He was snoring like he usually was when sleeping, it comforted Mirajane to hear that snoring. She placed herself next to him in the bed and drifted off to sleep.

"M-Mira? What happened yesterday?" She heared a certain dragon slayer moan next to him. She turned around to see Natsu sit up straight, rubbing the back of his head.

"Your oh so talented self fainted at the lack of magical energy." She chuckled. The boy's face was facing downwards.

"Hey! I wanna see you doing it, then we'll talk." The pink haired boy pouted. Both headed to the kitched for breakfast.

"So, you recovered?" Izuma asked, 3 meals were already on the table.

"For the most part, what happened there?" Natsu asked the red haired man.

"Boy, you have no idea how much that takes out of you. Especially after spending so much energy trying to get it done. What I'm interested in is how you go it done so fast." Izuma replied.

"I don't know. I just closed my eyes, thinking about Igneels's flames. When I opened them, I was like that." The pink haired boy explained.

"I see, so it was your father's flames. You're definitely an amazing boy, Natsu." Izuma laughed.

"Thanks .. I guess." The dragon slayer spoke. All of them finished breakfast and moved to the park again.

"Ok, try to do it again. It'll go much better than the second time, trust me." Natsu did as he was told and engulfed himself in the flames he was about to become. His body fused with the flames slowly and after about 2 minutes he had done what he was asked.

"Good, the first thing I'll have you do is a mobility technique that goes by the name of **Flame Dash**. As the name implies, you're just going to let flames overtake your body to achieve maximum speed. After tomorrow you'll be able to do a similar thing even stealthfully." Izuma spoke. Natsu nodded and looked straight at one point in front of him, marking it as his destination. The flames his body now was intensified. More flames grew out of the already existing ones as a stream flowed out of his body, the entirety of Natsu's body followed soon at a speed their eyes had trouble to comprehend.

"Haha, great job kiddo! You're a natural!" Izuma cheered. Natsu turned around with a grin on his face.

"With the properties of flames, do you think you could do that same through a solid object? Try to pass through the tree over there." Izuma pointed at one of the many trees surrounding them. Natsu tried to regain his focus, staring at the tree marked as an obstacle. His flames rushed to the tree and disappated at the contact. These flames were reconstructed behind the tree.

"And right off the bat, you got the basics for tomorrow down. I think I might just teach you today, looking at how you're doing." Mirajane stared in amazement at Natsu's fiery body.

"You've learned how to change the properties of your flames, correct? Now that your entire body is made of flames, how do you think you could use that to your advantage? You're going to have to be able to change the properties of the flames that are now your body if you actually want to be able to deal damage, since as of right now your flames aren't solid. Say for example you'd be facing a swordsman, they wouldn't be able to damage you. Their sword would go straight through you and you wouldn't feel a thing. But you also can't perform blunt attacks like punching, since your flames would just go through their body. But naturally you can still do damage. So ... Try to make your flames the solid ones you have always punched with, then strike the tree." Izuma ordered.

Natsu focused for a little. Changing the properties of his flames have always been second nature to him, but now he was changing the properties of his own body. After just a little bit of focusing and feeling his body harden, he turned to punch the tree. The roots were loosened from the ground as the tree went flying. In mid-air it turned to ash and flew off with the wind.

Mirajane stared in awe at the power Natsu had shown. Izuma grinned at the boy's progress that he could never have predicted. Izuma informed Natsu that he could stop for today as the boy transformed back to his regular form. Mirajane and Natsu went off to spend some time together in the city.

'You really are amazing, Natsu. Why weren't you like that as a kid?' Izuma thought. Leaving to the house he owned.

**2 Years Later**

"I've had a great time watching you grow into a fine lady, Mirajane. And Natsu, you've surprised everyone with the progress you've made. I'm sure not much people could go through what you went. I'm sure we'll meet again in the future. This is not a farewell, but a goodbye." Izuma spoke to the younger two before him. The two nodded and spoke their goodbyes as they left off to return to their home, the city of Magnolia, the guild of Fairy Tail.

'You've become a fine man, my boy. Let's hope Makarov will take better care of you from now on.' Igneel thought as he returned to his dragon form and flew off towards a close mountain.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey everyone, back with another chapter! Lots of reviews on the last one, thank you all for the support! My reviews pretty much caught up to my followers :) Since it's my first story I don't know how good the stats of my story are but ah well, no matter. Let's continue!

The ground started trembling. The entire guild could hear the ground shaking.

"What's going on?" Everybody wondered. All of them went outside to check on what had caused the loud shakes. All of them stared in awe at the giant castle that walked to their guild. After it stopped walking and remained still, a voice could be heard speaking loud and clear.

"Good day, fairies! What do you think? Pretty sweet, huh? If you don't want to get blown to shreds, I suggest you hand over Lucy Heartfillia." Jose ordered. The entire guild watched as a giant cannon was shoved out of the castle.

"We'll never give up one of our nakama!" The guild started to shout and cheer, Lucy stood in awe at the support she got from the guild even though she had caused all this trouble.

"Fine then, be that way. I'll just blow you all up then!" Jose spoke as a huge amount of energy could be sensed from inside the cannon.

"EVERYBODY, GET BEHIND ME!" Erza ordered while she re-quipped to her adamantium armor.

"There's no way you can take that, Erza!" Some replied.

"Shut up and get behind me!" She retalliated. They did as they were told. Jupiter was fully charged as they watched the beam of raw energy come at them. Erza closed her shields together and braced herself for the impact, one that came soon enough. After it hit Erza was sliding over the ground in her broken armor, she was unconscious.

"ERZA!" worried voices called out to her. She was moved inside the guild, but she had protected everyone from jupiter, the first one at least.

"That's your strongest mage down, you really think you stand a chance?" Jose shouted again. An army of shades erupted from the castle and flew towards the guild members. After a little while of fighting against the shades they noticed that their numbers weren't decreasing.

"These things don't stop coming!" Cana shouted. Everybody was sweating after only fighting for a short time. They were really a pinch. Multiple mages started dropping from exhaustion. The shades surrounded the remaining ones, preparing to deal the lethal blow. That was, until fire erupted from all around them and vanquished every single shade. They looked up to see a serious Natsu with his arm stretched out towards them and a smiling Mirajane next to him.

"Natsu! Mira!" They all shouted in pure happiness, their saviors had arrived.

"Yo!" Natsu greeted them, giving them the grin they had missed so much.

"It seems like you could really use our help here, what's going on?" The dragon slayer asked, recieving all the information from the guild members.

"So ... You're saying Phantom Lord destroyed our guild hall, kidnapped one of our members, hurt our nakama and almost killed Makarov..." Natsu spoke with a menacing tone while he turned his back to the guild members to face the Phantom Lord guild hall.

"Yeah, that's what happened." He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"You might want to take a few steps back." He commanded, all of them complied. Natsu became the fiery demon he had learned to become with a vortex of flames. He spread his legs and heated the air around him. Absorbing that air, he grew in size. After a little while he was as large as the enemy's guild hall. The entire guild stared in awe at the fire titan Natsu had become. Even Mirajane was shocked, she had never seen him do that.

Natsu raised a foot and turned the flames that were there blue, cold flames that wouldn't vaporize the water. He walked into the water and made his way to the guild hall of Phantom Lord. All of which had seen the fire titan by now.

"You all have hurt Fairy Tail to such an extent, I will personally make sure your guild won't dare to hurt Fairy Tail ever again. None of you will hinder Fairy Tail in the future, as I will be the one to spread fear over your face at the sound of that name." Natsu spoke intimidating. He raised his hand as one of his fingers turned into a fire chain that made it's way inside to the knocked out Lucy. The chain guided her back to the Fairy Tail members, Natsu started pounding into the castle with his fiery titan fists. Jose sat there shocked at what a monster the fire dragon slayer was. Gajeel was found in the same state, all they could do was jump into the water as they watched their guild hall being vanquished from existance. After this was done he stared at all the Phantom Lord guild members in the water.

"I hope I'll never have to look at any of your despicable faces ever again, now leave!" He ordered, all of the mages turned and swam as fast as they could from the monster that had just single handedly destroyed their entire guild. The fire titan turned around and made it's way back to land, the entire Fairy Tail guild looked in utter shock at the titan. The fire that formed it's body collected into one sphere that hung in mid-air. Soon it turned into Natsu's normal body again as he dropped down from the sky. Multiple mages went to catch him as the unconscious fire mage landed into the arms of his nakama. All still shocked from the power the dragon slayer had just shown.

"What exactly have you two been doing the past few years?" They all asked Mirajane. She shrugged at the question.

"It was mostly him, we just stumbled across a mentor for him. I didn't really get that much stronger." She replied. All returned their stares to the pink haired boy.

"N-eh, damn. Wha-Where am ... What happened?" Were the words Natsu woke up with.

"So you're finally up, huh? You're really lazy sometimes, you know that?" A smiling Mirajane chuckled next to him.

"Oh, hi Mira. What happened?" Natsu noticed the woman besides him. She looked down at him with the same warm smile she always had.

"Oh, you know. The usual, you saved the guild from complete anihalation." She explained jokingly, Natsu laughed at the way she told him. But his smile was quick to disappear.

"How many are hurt?" He asked, Mirajane looked down.

"Erza looks pretty bad. But the others are pretty much ok. You've been sleeping for 2 days so most recovered already." The take over mage told him.

"2 days huh, must've really used all my power there." He covered his eyes with his hand.

"Well yeah, even I stood in shock. Since when could you do that?" Mirajane asked the fire mage.

" 'Dunno, it just came with the moment." Natsu shrugged, a sweat drop flowing down Mira's face.

"Something like that doesn't just 'come with the moment', Natsu." She retalliated.

"I guess I proved you wrong there, because it did." He blew it off. Natsu got out of his bed but still felt a bit weak.

"Can I get something to eat now?" He asked, Mirajane giggled at the question.

"Of course, I'll get you something. You can just wait with everybody else outside." Mirajane guided Natsu out of the tent to the construction site. As soon as he made his way out the entire guild cheered at his appearance. He was picked up and sat on the shoulders of 2 mages as the entire guild guided him towards their master.

"I'm glad you made it back, safe and sound. We owe you, Natsu. You saved the guild." Master Makarov spoke as Natsu was dropped in front of him.

"Glad to be back!" Natsu grinned. Makarov smiled at the grin he's missed out on for so long.

"How's Erza?" Natsu asked now more seriously.

"She'll be fine, just give her time to recover." Makarov responded, still smiling.

"Good, I wouldn't want her to miss out on a rematch with me!" Natsu pointed at himself and smiled.

"So how's the last few years been for you, boy?" Makarov asked as they both sat down at a table.

"Good, we met someone along the way. Someone that taught me the technique I showed off. He claimed to be the son of the previous fire dragon slayer." Makarov raised an eyebrown at this.

"And where did you meet him then?" He asked intruiged.

"Just at a bar, I ended up in a brawl and he just asked me to follow him." Natsu grinned. They shouldn't have expected much more from the dragon slayer.

"I'm sad that all this time Mira just sat by my side as she couldn't really train herself." He glanced over at the white haired beauty.

"Talking about Mira. She's entirely different now, she's friendly and wears dresses." The guild arched forward to hear a reply to the statement.

"Yeah, it happened kind of soon after we left. She just bought a couple of dresses and started wearing them, brought her hair up and wore the warm smile she now always has." Natsu said while looking dreamy in her direction. The entire guild chuckled at the dragon slayer's too obvious affection.

Mirajane now came over with the fiery food she had prepared for the dragon slayer.

"Here you go!" She placed the plate in front of Natsu, who immediatly dug in and filled his stomach with the delicious 'food'.

'Mhm, that hit the spot. Thanks, Mira!" Natsu patted his stomach, feeling re-energized.

"For you, any time." She exclaimed while kissing his cheek, making a blush on Natsu's face appear.

"Hm, are you blushing? I didn't think I'd embarass you with that. We've done MUCH more than this, haven't we?" She asked with a sly tone in her voice while sitting on his lap. The dragon slayer's face was now pretty much burning as he awaited the reactions of the guild members surrounding him. He dropped his shoulders and calmed down.

"You're right, I'm sure they're all wondering what exactly." He spoke as he pressed his lips against Mirajane's. Gasps could be heard behind them from Natsu's boldness. Mirajane was the one blushing as Natsu returned to just holding her.

"Oh, that's right. Natsu, you haven't met the new one yet. Lucy, step forward!" Makarov ordered the blonde. The crowd made place for Lucy to reach Natsu.

"H-Hi, I'm Lucy Heartfillia. I'm a celestial spirit mage. I had no idea the guild had someone this powerful, you must be the ace." The blonde mage assumed. Everybody started laughing at the statement.

"I'm Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer. I've only just returned from a 2 year journey, so I guess the ranks have yet to adapt to me." He grinned with his hand behind his head.

"Oh, I see. Then you must at least be an SS-class mage." She assumed once again.

"Actually, I'm not even S-class yet." The boy explained.

"Natsu, I was going to talk about that. I think we can all agree that Natsu fully deserved the title of S-class mage, so I thought we'd give him that title tomorrow." The entire guild cheered for the pink-haired dragon slayer.

"But don't I have to pass the exams?" Natsu asked the master of Fairy Tail.

"This is an exception, there is no doubt you got what it takes. If you really doubt yourself, just win a fight against Erza." Makarov suggested.

"That's more like it! Moetekitazo!" (Sorry, I think "I'm all fired up" just sounds wrong in a lot of sentences so I just prefer putting it in like that). A courier arrived at the construction site after that.

"Natsu Dragneel! I'm looking for Natsu Dragneel!" He shouted, everyone turned to look at him.

"That'd be me!" Natsu shouted at him.

"Oh, there you are. I finally found you! Here, this is from the magic council." He puffed and breathed heavily as he handed Natsu a letter. The courier ran off as Natsu opened the envelope.

"They want to meet me tomorrow noon. Sounds pretty important coming from them." Natsu explained what the letter told him.

"Looks like we're traveling by train, I'm going to need you Mira." He smiled over at Mirajane who was still sitting on his lap, she merely giggled.


	12. Chapter 12

Seems like people thought it was quite the short battle last chapter, I just felt like making Natsu completely stomp their asses :D Sorry if it bothered you. Thanks for all the support you guys are giving me, onto the next chaptah!

The next day our dragon slayer and the take over mage he loved were traveling towards the Magic Council. They had recieved a letter telling them the Magic Council wanted to talk with Natsu personally, which of course means that Natsu has to attend in flesh and blood while they'll be present as thought projections. The dragon slayer's head was on the soft lap of the silver haired woman accompanying him to lessen the effect of his motion sickness on him.

"I don't think I'll ever grow tired of this. Your lap's really comfy, you know that?" Natsu looked up to the beautiful face of Mirajane as she giggled in response.

"I don't think the feeling I get with you down there will ever cease to amaze me either." She chuckled. They now simply smiled at eachother.

"What do you think they'd want with me?" Natsu asked. Mirajane looked up, supporting her chin with her arm.

"Maybe they're just going to lecture you? Oh, or they'll make you a wizard saint!" Natsu raised an eyebrown at the thought.

"Won't I have to make those annoying reports then? And be all formal and stuff?" The pink haired man wondered.

"I guess, is that really why you'd refuse such a title?" Mirajane asked him.

"You think I'd waste my time giving a damn about their requirements? I'm not going to dance to their songs. I've got much more important stuff to take care of, that includes you." Natsu laughed, he naturally had no feel for the formalities of being a wizard saint.

There was no time left to do anything else when they entered the station, they'd be heading straight to the council. As they arrived a guardsman asked what their business was with the council.

"The name's Natsu Dragneel, the council called me here." The dragon slayer explained as he showed the letter. The guardsman nodded and allowed passage. Upon entering the huge building they were guided to where they were to meet up with the members of the council. They entered the empty room which was said to be their destination. Natsu took his position for the hearing or whatever it would turn out to be with Mirajane next to him as the thought projections of the council appeared. After they were all present the head of the council spoke up.

"Natsu Dragneel, you have been called here in association with the recent event that concerns the Phantom Lord guild and the wizard saint Jose. You have handled what had become a job for the council on your own with ease. The guild of Phantom Lord was destined to be disbanded from the moment they crosses the line with Fairy Tail." Natsu listened carefully to what he was told.

"I have indeed raised my hand against the guild Phantom Lord upon their excessive violence against my guild. What is it that you want from me?" He asked straight out. The council glared at him.

"Jose is unfitting to remain a wizard saint, we need someone to fill his place. Since you're the one who took him down, you might be the one to take his place. You don't lack the power to do so." The head of the council argued.

"Heh, I figured this was going that way. Sorry, but I can't comply to the duties that title brings with itself. The formal life of a wizard saint isn't one cut out for me." The magic council gasped at his reply.

"I hope you won't regret this decision, boy. It's an honor to be chosen to wear the title of wizard saint." The council spoke as they stopped the thought projections they had formed.

"Me, a wizard saint. Can you imagine it?" Natsu asked into Mirajane's direction who simply smiled.

"I think you'd be a great wizard saint!" She cheered for the boy with the usual warmth she brought with her smile.

"But it'd still be a job, not just a title." The dragon slayer shrugged as he took Mirajane's hand. They exited the building the council's meetings resided in and looked at the train station.

"So those rides were just to waste our time here like this, huh? Next time can't we just send our reply in a letter just like those old guys did?" Both laughed.

"At least I enjoy the train rides with you." Mirajane countered. Natsu gave her a warm grin.

"Of course, if you weren't there I'd die." The fire mage grinned. The train arrived and it was time for them to head back to the guild. The train ride back was mostly sleeping for the two, the arrival at Magnolia station barely managed to wake Mirajane up.

"Natsu, wake up! Natsu! We're here, c'mon!" Mirajane spoke as she poked Natsu's cheek.

"Ugh, I want to sleep more!" He muttered, delving his face into Mirajane's stomach like it was his pillow. She was now blushing madly as she pushed the dragon slayer to the ground.

"Hey, ouch. What'd you do that for?" Natsu pouted.

"We're here and you wouldn't wake up, now let's move!" The take over mage grabbed his hand and rushed out of the train right before the doors closed.

"Why can't the world just settle down and relax for a bit?" Natsu complained at how they had just barely made it out.

"We can relax if that's what you want, the guild doesn't know we're here yet so we don't have to go." Mirajane spoke with a seductive tone. Natsu couldn't help but comply to her words. They made their way to Natsu's house, they actually hadn't been there yet since they came back to Magnolia. The place looked quite peaceful, it was dusty here and there but it didn't look as bad as it should after being abandoned for 2 years.

"Weird, I think somebody's been watching this place for us." Natsu stated, Mirajane nodded as she observed their house. Natsu went over to the kitched when he heard Mirajane's voice call out for him.

"The bedroom seems clear of everything!" He understood.

'Why of all places would the bedroom be in the best condition?' Natsu thought to himself as he entered the place to check it out for himself. It didn't seem that filthy at all, Mirajane had spoken the truth. He was pushed on the bed from behind.

"Hey, what the-. What was tha-" He started when he turned around and stared in awe at Mirajane, she was no wearing nothing but her black underwear.

"Ara ara, if it can silence you it must be some powerful magic." She smiled, Natsu merely gulped at the sight. Mirajane leaned towards him as she crawled onto the bed, moving slowly in his direction. Soon enough he was staring into the beautiful blue eyes of the silver haired beauty, it didn't take Natsu long to let his primal senses take over as he lunged on top of her and pressed his lips against hers.

Mirajane was enjoying his dominance and let him take charge. She did however removed his clothing slowly from him, the first was his open vest. Natsu wouldn't break their kiss, he was addicted to the skin of her lips. Natsu had to catch his breath as he was now bare-chested. Mirajane took her time to stare at the muscled body of her lover as she bit her lip to surpress the desire.

She loosened his pants as he once again dropped his lips onto hers. Natsu's hand started exploring as it went up from her waist to her breast and started fondling it. Mirajane moaned in ecstacy, Natsu used the oppertunity and pushed his tongue into her mouth. Her own tongue was still standing guard over the entrance though, a full-out tongue battle followed. Natsu moved to train kisses down from her lips to right above her breasts. He removed her bra as he kissed, nibbled and sucked on one breast and fondled the other with his hand. Mirajane was moaning with pleasure from Natsu's actions.

Soon the trail of kisses continued to go downwards, he then arrived at his destination. Natsu kissed the insides of her thights as he removed Mirajane's panties. He kissed the lips of her entrance as she bit on her lip to not let loud screams escape. She pushed his head closer into her as Natsu let his tongue inside of her. Mirajane completely lost it as she screamed out her partner's name.

"NATSUUU!"

He liked the sound of that, he was completely in control of her. He went on with what he was doing until Mirajane pushed him to the side.

"Now that wasn't very nice, Natsu. I'll make sure to repay you." She whispered as she removed his pants and boxers, revealing his big manlihood. She stared at him as her tongue slided over the surface from the bottom to the top of it. It was now Natsu's turn to moan from the pleasure Mirajane was giving him. She then planted her lips on his erection as she let her tongue straddle it. Natsu couldn't stop moaning, he had never felt this good in his entire life.

"Mira, I'm not going to last much longer." Natsu whispered the words that barely reached Mirajane.

"Just a little longer, my dragon. I need you hard for a little bit longer." She seductively spoke as she positioned herself on top of the dragon slayer. Slowly she descended down upon Natsu's hard member. At first she released the scream of pain the was bound to come, Natsu held onto her as he waited for Mirajane's pain to subside. After a little while the take over mage started moving her hips in a vertical motion. Both screamed in ecstacy, there was nothing like this in the entire world.

As she sped up Mirajane just fell on top of Natsu and they were once again passionatly kissing. While not stopping to kiss or trust into her, Natsu turned them around so he was on top. He released the lip-lock he had been in for a little bit to whisper.

"I think my moment's about to come." Mirajane nodded, giving him the same information. Both of them screamed eachother's name as they couldn't hold it in any longer.

"NATSUUU!"

"MIRAAAA!"

Natsu pulled out of her and collapsed besides Mirajane. She was filled with Natsu's semen and his member was drenched in her juices. They stared contently at eachother, covering themselves with the blankets of the bed.

"I love you, Mira." Natsu whispered before sleep overtook him.

"I love you too, Natsu." Mirajane answered as she snuggled into his chest, soon enough she was sleeping as well.


	13. Chapter 13

I made last chapter just a little bit lovey-dovey because I said "Why the heck not?" so that's where that came from :P Also like NO ONE is updating NaMi 'cept me 'nd Valin, not that I know of at least. Really bugs me :( Ah well at least you guys got me! :) Actually it seems I inspired some of you to write their own story, love y'all! on with ez chaptah! Had a lot of trouble with this one, didn't really have any ideas. I just made something up on the spot so I hope it's any good.

"Natsu ..." A deep voice spoke. Natsu grumbled a bit as his eyes slowly opened, seeing nothing but black. He immediatly got up to look where he was. There was nothing but blackness except for a fire which illuminated the body of a red scaled dragon.

"Igneel!" Natsu yelled wide-eyed.

"Yes, Natsu. You're probably wondering where you are, I guess you could call this your subconscious." The image of Igneel explained.

"So you and I aren't actually here?" The dragon slayer thought.

"Indeed, neither of us are ourselves made from flesh and blood. We're just a reflection of the actual us." The dragon continued.

"Why am I here?" Natsu asked, walking up to the fire.

"I brought you here to warn you. Your return to the guild is now a well-known topic throughout Fiore. This is most likely to cause trouble, not only for you but for the guild and the people around you as well." Igneel warned the pink haired boy.

"How? What's going to happen?" Natsu asked his foster parent.

"I can't tell you that much. Just be careful, if you're not you might endanger everyone around you. At this point, anyone could come to cripple Fairy Tail by destroying it's fighting spirit and one of it's most powerful mages. One last thing though. On sunday, 2 days from now, bring Mirajane to the center of the park. I will give something to her, she'll know what it is." Natsu got drawn away from Igneel's image and the flame illuminating him. When he opened his eyes Mirajane was shaking him until she noticed he was now awake.

"Are you ok? You were sweating all over and mumbling some weird stuff." She was worried about the pink haired dragon slayer.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had ... A bad dream, I guess. I don't know if I should take it seriously." Natsu replied with sleep in his eyes.

"You wanna talk about it? I'm all ear if you need me to be." The silver haired girl told him with a smile.

"Ugh, I don't know what happened exactly. It was just a big black place and a fire was there with Igneel next to it. He told me to be careful since people could come after me from all over Fiore, and the people around me could also be in danger because of that. He also told me to bring you to the center of the park at sunday, he'll give you something." Natsu explained what happened in his 'dream'.

"Hmmm ... I guess he could be speaking the truth, let's just watch ourselves in case it is. If he actually speaks the truth we'll know for sure in 2 days." Mirajane suggested, recieving a nod from Natsu. After preparing themselves they left for the guild. Since Natsu was now able to use his fire magic in a similar way to Makarov's titan magic he was certainly useful in the construction of the new guild hall. Mirajane simply became the bartender for the time being.

"So ... Where have you two been? I thought you were supposed to be back yesterday." Gray asked. The two of them were now blushing madly and looking away, Natsu was whistling too.

"You know what, I don't even wanna know." The ice mage stated as he turned away from them.

"But I do!" A drunk cana yelled at them.

"Shut up, Cana. You're drunk!" Gray shut her up. The couple chuckled at the commotion they caused. Both just went to do their jobs at the construction site. In a closeby alley were some hooded people discussing something.

"So she's still recovering, right?" One of them started.

"Yeah, she's in the tent over there. Should be easy." A second explained.

"Just leave it to me, boys." A third, female voice joined the conversation. She walked out of the alley towards the construction site, as she closed the distance everyone started feeling drowsy. It didn't take long for everyone to drop to the ground while snoring. Everyone except the fiery demon that was looking around, figuring what was happening.

'Is it just Mystogan? Maybe his sleep doesn't affect me because I'm not a human body right now and fire doesn't sleep.' Was his first conclusion, until he saw the hooded female walking into Erza's tent.

'Who's that? This can't be good!' He thought while rushing towards the tent. The woman came out of the tent with Erza on her back only to be punched back inside again, flying through the back of the tent. Natsu caught Erza and laid her down calmly, rushing towards his enemy.

"What do you need Erza for? State your business!" Natsu ordered threatening. The female was first surprised to see someone not to be affected by her spell, second that she had to face the salamander. She knew she had no chance against the dragon slayer as she just disappeared from sight. Natsu had to rely on his nose to find her again. He could see her in an alley with 2 other hooded men as a magic circle teleported them away to some place. He clenched his fists at the unknown enemies. Everybody at the site slowly woke up from the slumber they were brought in.

"That Mystogan, doesn't he know what happened? There are no jobs at the moment." Gray muttered.

"It wasn't Mystogan!" Natsu shouted at them to everyone's surprise.

"There was a hooded lady that tried to kidnap Erza! I was able to stop her though." Natsu explained what had happened and why he presumably wasn't affected by the sleep spell. They all awaited the master's return from the meeting with the other masters to pass on the information.

"Why the heck would someone be after Erza?" He asked, nobody in the guild was able to answer the question.

"For now we should just make sure they won't catch her." Mirajane suggested, recieving nods from all around her.

"Natsu would you be able to identify her?" Makarov asked the fire mage.

"No, she and her partners were all hooded." He replied.

"Then we have no choice but to guard her until she is able to defend herself again, even then she should still be with someone at all times." Makarov ordered.

A couple days passed by until Erza finally awakened for the first time in a week. It was the sunday Mirajane and Natsu left for the park just before she awakened.

"Erza! You're up! How do you feel?" Lucy was the first one to notice and immediatly bestowed Erza with words she could hardly follow.

"I-I'm fine, just a little weak." She answered. The entire guild knew and soon enough everybody had welcomed the scarlet-haired girl back to the land of the living. After having a good meal Erza could walk on her own but nothing more than that. Master Makarov had informed her about the recent events.

"Where is Natsu right now?" Erza wondered.

"He went with Mira to the park, said they had something to do there." The master replied. The two mages could be indeed be found at the center of the park, making sure no one was around.

"So what're we supposed to find here?" Mirajane asked the fire mage.

"I don't know, he only told me you'd know what it was when we'd see it." Natsu explained. It was after that some sort of light descended from the sky.

"Mira, is that it?" Natsu pointed at the sky. Mirajane turned around and widened her eyes.

"What's wrong, Mira? What is that?" The dragon slayer asked her.

"T-That's a soul!" She went over to catch it. The soul evaporated in her hand, all of it's strength absorbed by the take over mage.

"And not just any sould, it's a fire dragon's soul!" Natsu eyes widened as well.

"A fire dragon's? And that just popped up around here for no reason?" The fire mage stared in awe.

"I have a feeling you actually met your father in your dream, Natsu." Mirajane turned to him.

"Well hurry up and show it off!" Natsu shouted in anxiety. Mirajane took a deep breath.

"Take Over: Fire Dragon's Soul!" She shouted as red scales started covering most of her body, still leaving a lot of things exposed (whink whink). The wings, claws, tail, scales all of a fire dragon but smaller, covered her body.

"Soooo, does that mean you can use fire magic in that form?" His answer was sent to him in the form of a delicious fireball which got eaten by him.

"I guess so." Mirajane smiled, returning to her human form.

"That's so cool, Mira!" Natsu shouted, running over to her side. She chuckled at her lover's enthousiasm. They returned to the guild, talking about how their powers could now synergize really well. Soon the walking Erza caught their eyes.

"Hey, Erza! I see you finally woke up." The dragon slayer stated while walking over to the requip mage.

"Yeah, only a while ago. I heard about all the stuff that happened, I want to thank you. If it weren't for you I wouldn't be here." Erza spoke humbly.

"It's nothing, really. Just don't you forget about our match, whenever you're ready!" Natsu grinned at her.

"I'll beat you any time." She replied.

"Don't be overconfident Erza, I highly doubt you'll be able to damage him at all." Mirajane joined the conversation.

"Is that so? Looks like you got at least someone cheering for you, Natsu." Erza smiled.

"Wait, doens't the rest think I'll beat you?" Natsu looked around to see everybody's awkward glance.

"I guess you'll just have to prove them wrong, just like always." Mirajane looked over at the pink haired boy.

"Oh I will, don't you worry." He spoke, his confidence making them all laugh. After a couple of days Erza has recovered and was ready for the fight with Natsu. Everybody had assembled to watch the fight. They know Natsu had become really powerful, but it was still Erza he was facing. And they all knew his power would grow to infinity if it's to save his nakama, which wasn't the case in a friendly duel. Both fighters stood in a circle of spectators. The referee would of course be Makarov.

"Are you both ready?" Makarov looked at the two of them, he could see them both nodding.

"Then let the fight begin!" Erza immediatly equipped her Flame Empress Armor, because she thought it would give her the advantage. Natsu became the flames without making them solid, granting him immunity against physical attacks.

"Like Mirajane said, I highly doubt you'll be able to strike me even once, Erza." Natsu looked over at his opponent.

"You know how ridiculous that sounds, right?" She laughed as she lunged at the dragon slayer. She swung her sword but to her surprise it went right through the fiery body of Natu without him showing any sort of pain. She took a step back, thinking of what had just happened.

"Surprised huh? I guess no one has told you yet. Currently my body is raw fire, fire isn't solid. At least my fire isn't solid unless I want it to be, which is why you won't be able to strike me. I think I'll just take the easy win now." Natsu explained. He moved his flames inside of Erza's armor, obliterating it from the inside out (No, he wasn't doing anything dirty while he was in there). Erza screamed in pain as the heat she just felt was extremely intense, Natsu's flames collected themselves again to form his body.

"Ready to give up?" He grinned. Everybody looked at how easily Erza was brought to her knees.

"Not yet, I won't give in so easily!" Erza shouted, requipping her Flight Armor and moved at incredible speed around the battlefield. She stroke him every once in a while but without any effect.

'If I just look for a moment where he turns his body solid I need to strike at the right time. But of course he'll be making sure he only turns it solid when he's about to strike it, and I don't even know if he has to turn his entire body or if he can do it only partially.' The scarlet-haired mage tried to form a battle plan until she saw Natsu vaporize in the air.

"What? Where'd he go?" She wondered as she sped up in the hope he wouldn't be able to hit her. Soon enough the entire battle field was engulfed in flames that rose miles up to the sky. Erza was suffering from the immense heat as she was unable to escape the flames. She dropped unconscious to the ground as Natsu reformed his human body before her.

"I guess it's my win." He looked over at Makarov who simply nodded. Natsu carried Erza back to the same tent she had slept in until a few days ago. Nobody could believe Natsu had won a fight with Erza this quickly without even getting hit once.

Well that was chapter 13, I hope you guys enjoyed it. This took me quite long but I'm not backing down from daily updates! ValinNight told me I should take a break but I refused! Thank you guys all for reading, until next time!


	14. Chapter 14

Alright after brainstorming for a while in my bed I came up with something, I thought about ending the story with this but ... then I'd end the story and ... I don't want that. Anyways here's the next chapter I hope you guys'll enjoy it!

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Erza awoke slowly in the same bed she had woken up from a couple of days earlier. Her eyes got used to the light as she raised her head from her pillow. She turned slowly to let her feet touch the ground. She didn't even know what it was, but she knew what she felt was something for her to wear on her feet so she put them on. Slowly she made her way outside, still drowsy. As soon as she existed the room she looked down at the immense guild hall that was no before her.

"Erza!" Mirajane yelled out, rushing to her.

"You're awake, we finished the guild hall." She explained with a smile. Erza nodded, too weak to talk.

"You look like you should rest for a little bit longer." The take over mage stated, Erza simply shook her head and walked down to the other guild members. All of them greeted her but she passed them all. She stopped when she stood before Natsu.

"Hey there, Erza! You don't look so good, you know. You should probably sleep a little more, or eat something maybe!" He suggested with a grin. Erza's fist made it's way to Natsu's face, only to get caught by his hand.

"Erza? You ok?" Natsu asked confused.

"How...How did you get so strong?!" She yelled at him.

"Woah, I just trained a lot and someone taught me. Why?" The pink haired boy replied hastefully.

"I can't believe you got so strong, I didn't progress at all." The scarlet haired woman in front of him nearly cried. Erza felt like she failed to protect the guild all these years just by losing to him. She didn't know why, but it hurt.

"Erza, that's nonsense. You've gotten a lot stronger, you've protected the guild yourself too. I just ditched the guild to get stronger at a faster rate. I think you can be proud." Natsu comforted her as he pulled her into a hug. She remained still for a bit until she pulled away from his chest and stood before him with a smile on her face.

"You're right, I'm still better than you!" This made a sweat drop appear on many, many faces.

"I wouldn't go that far but if that's what you want to believe, I can't stop you!" The dragon slayer spoke with another one of his grins. He made his way to Mirajane at the bar but stopped halfway. His body froze and his eyes were widened, looking down at the ground. Soon the hottest and biggest flames erupted from his body, Natsu himself screaming in pain. Everybody was shocked and immediatly ran to safety from the outburst of fire, it almost covered the entire room. After the flames subsided Natsu dropped to his knees.

"Natsu! Are you ok?" Mirajane rushed to his side with a worried expression.

"I'm fine, I don't know what just happened. My magical energy just ... discharged." Natsu tried to explain.

"I think I could explain that." An adult voice spoke. All of them turned towards the entrance of the guild to see a red-haired man standing there with his arms crossed.

"Izuma!" Mirajane and Natsu yelled, rushing to his side and pulling him into a hug. The entire guild had a confused look on his face. The three noticed this as they now stood side by side at the entrance.

"Everyone, this is Izuma. He's the guy that trained me and we've lived with him for the last 2 years." Everybody was only thinking about how strong he must be that he trained Natsu so that he became that powerful.

"So he must be really powerful then, if he taught you all that." Erza brought out.

"Not exactly. The power Natsu attained was already his, I just helped him unlock it." Izuma explained.

"But I have something to show you all, especially Natsu. If you'd all follow me." Izuma turned his back to the guild and walked into the forest, everybody was right behind him. He stopped at an open spot in the forest. He then turned to face Natsu.

"The magical eruption you just experienced was the link between you and me that was restored." Izuma told the dragon slayer.

"Our ... link?" Natsu questioned.

"It'll make more sense once I show you my true identity." Izuma spoke as his eyes glowed yellow. His body grew scales, wings, claws, a tail and increased in size. Before them now stood the king of the fire dragons, Igneel. The entire guild stood with their jaw to the ground, except Natsu who had tears in his eyes. His first reaction was to jump up and punch the dragon's face into the ground.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER? WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING BEFORE THEN? WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?" Natsu screamed with tears overflowing his eyes.

"Back then, on that day. July 7th, X777. Was the day our links were severed. There was a dragon law that forebade all the dragons every form of contact with humans, only with their dragon slayer childs was any form of contact allowed. The link that was severed that day resembled that relationship. That day was the day all links between dragons and dragon slayers were severed, so no dragon had an actual relationship with their child anymore. Which means that they weren't allowed to show themselves to those childs again." Igneel explained the group before him.

"But I'm growing older, the day before a dragon's death is one where he is free from all laws. Which is how I was able to restore our link. Natsu, this'll be the last time you meet me in blood and flesh." Igneel continued.

"So you just came back to say farewell and die?" Natsu looked up to the dragon questioning.

"Sort of, let me explain further. The soul Mirajane recieved was the soul of my mate. I want you to eat a flame that I will leave you, Natsu. If you eat that flame I will forever live on in your body. I will also live with my mate even after death. Your power will surge and increase by a huge amount by the absortion of my flame. We will be able to speak, just not in person." Igneel kept on talking. Natsu now had a more serious expression as he nodded.

"Now your entire guild knows that I existed too, they know you were raised by an almighty dragon." Igneel smiled at the group behind Natsu, who all looked happy and supported Natsu in every way they could. Igneel's body was set ablaze as it decreased in size, leaving on flame on it's spot.

"One last thing, Natsu. Since my entire being will live on inside you, you are bound to become the next king of the fire dragons. I'm sure in the few next days a few fire dragons will come here to see how this will work out." Igneel spoke his final words as the flame was now his complete spiritual and magical power. Natsu walked up to the flame and held it in his hands, it was a beautiful crimson flame.

The dragon slayer and soon-to-be king of the fire dragons brought to flame to his mouth, devouring it. As the last bit of the flame left his mouth and entered his body, once again the same eruption of flames came from Natsu. But it didn't hurt this time, in fact he felt better than ever. He felt like his magical energy was infinite, probably because it was close to that. After the flames subsided the skin above his chest and right below his neck started to burn with a comfortable fire, the same happened to Mirajane. A mark of a fire dragon appeared on both their bodies, on the same spot even.

"Natsu ... What is this?" Mirajane asked him and everybody looked questioned at the now grinning dragon slayer.

"That's the fire dragon's mating mark" He said pointing at the symbol. Now that they both had the souls of 2 dragons in them that were mates, they themselves had become dragon mates.

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Sorry this chapter was a little bit shorter, but I really liked this idea so I wanted to spend a chapter on only this. Hope you all liked it, I'll see you tomorrow!


	15. Chapter 15

I'm glad to see the stuff I write turns out to be pretty original and creative :) Been talking to a few of you and you guys are awesome! Btw I suck at fighting scenes. Let's see what'll end up below this AN now shall we?

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"So, Natsu. What's with this whole dragon mate stuff?" Mirajane couldn't help but ask the dragon slayer.

"It's kind of like marriage for dragons, only less official but more ... how do I put it ... mutual? I don't know how to put it, Mira." The silver haired woman nodded in understanding.

"It's ok, Natsu. Don't break your dense head over it." She teased the boy as he pouted. She couldn't help but note how cute he looked everytime he did so.

"So in a few days we'll get to see even more dragons?" The question came from behind them, the group was still a bit startled by what had just happened.

"I guess so." Natsu grinned at the group. All of them now returned to the guilld. A funny thought turned to Mirajane's mind.

"So if you're going to be the king of the fire dragon's, does that mean I'll be your queen?" Natsu was caught off-guard by the question, but shrugged as a response.

"I guess, I'm not THAT familiar with the dragon culture." He replied, trying to forget what had just happaned. He naturally didn't want to think about his father just dying. He knew his father lived on inside of him though, he would always be with him now.

"Remember, he'll always be with you now." Mirajane looked like she could almost read his mind as she said that.

"I know, that's what I was telling myself." He smiled at her.

"Now there's another thing that connects us." Natsu sighed out, Mirajane rested her head on his shoulder as their hands intertwined. When they arrived at the guild their first thought was to check up on Erza, they wanted to tell her what had just happened and they made their way up to the infirmary. They found the bed she was supposed to be in empty and the window open. Both faces contained shock and anger, they ran out of the infirmary announcing Erza's likely capture.

"WHAT?" Multiple mages shouted in shock. Immediatly everyone left to search for the scarlet-haired woman, but to no avail.

It had been days since then. But Natsu was still traveling from town to port and vice versa, sniffing out the entire place in the hope of finding a lead on Erza. Until he finally smelled her scent. Immediatly Happy (btw I totally forgot about the blue exceed for almost the entire story lol) was sent back to the guild to send word of his discovery. Natsu had left a message for them to recieve telling them to follow the trail of blazes he'd leave over the sea. Naturally Mirajane was with him. He picked her up bridal style and used his fire as thrusters to fly his way over the sea, following the sent he had picked up.

"How far do you think it is?" Mirajane asked the dragon slayer.

"I don't know exactly, but it's definitely still a whiles away." Natsu replied, Mirajane had a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, we'll find her. I'll get us there and we're gonna kick their asses!" Natsu reinsured his mate. It felt like hours until they finally saw a huge tower-like contruction reaching for the skies. They landed at the foot of it, wondering what it could be for.

"Well, no point in going back now. Let's go!" Natsu spoke to Mirajane, she followed him inside the tower.

"Welcome to the tower of heaven, Natsu Dragneel!" A voice echoed from within the building.

"I assume you're here for a certain scarlet-haired mage, you'd be better off turning around right now." The voice exclaimed.

"Not gonna happen! Where's Erza?!" Natsu yelled back into the huge construction above him.

"Suit yourself, and why would I tell you? Just make your way up here and we'll see if you can bring her home. Just make sure you don't die to your other 3 opponents on the way up here first!" The voice spat back at him. Natsu clenched his fists in anger as he rushed up the stairs. Many guards stared rushing down the stairs.

"What's this? Didn't he say we'd be facing 3 opponents?" Natsu asked no one in particular.

"I guess these guys are just our food for now, Natsu." Mirajane spoke with a devilish grin.

"Sometimes, you even scare me when you do that." Natsu grinned over his shoulder at her. Now looking at Mirajane in her normal Satan Soul take over. She would reserve the dragon soul she had recieved for special occasions. Both charged through the guards, throwing them to their sides off the stairs. It was surprisingly easy to get through that first line of defense, but much more were to follow. Not much trouble was found in defeating these weaklings for the 2 mages, until they met their first actual opponent.

Before them now stood a woman wearing a kimono, her scent was familiar to Natsu.

"You're that women that tried to steal Erza the first time!" He yelled at her. Remembering her magic, he immediatly made sure he wouldn't fall asleep as he turned ablaze. Mirajane however had no way to resist the magic as she soon dropped snoring to the ground, undoing the take over magic. It looked like Natsu would have to face this first opponent by himself.

"So what if I am, what're you gonna do about it?" She responded non-chalantly. She brought out her large katana, Natsu grinned to see she was a swordsman. He simply awaited her to attack first and stood there not moving an inch. He assumed the attack would have no effect on him like with Erza, he was mistaken. The sword cut straight through his flames, it hurt ... a lot. The sword wasn't just physical, it was imbued with her magical power. He knew he had to be more careful from now on.

"Did you think your body of fire would protect you from my weapon?" She asked the boy again with that same tone in her voice. Natsu was ticked off at how she looked down on him. She went in for another strike but Natsu managed to maneuver his flames so that the blade touched nothing of his body while the flames struck into the woman's face, dashing behind her he continued a barrage of attacks to not let her recover. Soon she was smashed downwards to the ground.

"You've done wrong pissing me off, lady." Natsu spoke with a serious tone.

"Hehe, is that so? What's my punishment?" The woman smirked as she lunged forward again but Natsu repeated the process in dodging and counterattacking. Not much enemies stood much of a fight against him anymore since he could dodge nearly everything with his flexible body. Mirajane was soon to wake up after Natsu's opponent lost consciousness.

"What happened?" She naturally asked. Natsu gave her the explenation she deserved as she understood what had happened. They both left, fighting more of those weak guardsmen on their way up. The second opponent was one that seemed to be into metal and rock, constantly waving his long hair around.

"Water is useless against me, my hair can absorb all of your water!" He spoke grinning.

"Uh ... Who said I was a water mage? I'm a fire dragon slayer." The man's eyes widened at that statement.

"F-F-F-FFFFFire?" He stuttered out, the two raised their eyebrowns at this. The man backed away from Natsu as much as he could, gesturing him to stay away.

"Why don't you take this one? He doesn't seem like he wants to fight me." Mirajane happily complied as she transformed. Her opponent immediatly took a liking to her battleform, it looked sadistic.

"Fantastic, you look amazing! You're just what I'm looking for! Why don't you go ahead and punch your boyfriend now?" He asked with a menacing tone as he played the succubus song on his guitar. To his surprise Mirajane stood there yawning.

"Why don't you try that again when you're able to mind-control a dragon." She grinned demon-like. She rushed over by his side and initiated with a simple Evil Spark. The attack made his body slightly numb as he dropped to his knees, only to recieve a kick to the face that knocked him into the wall of the room they were in.

"So far these battles have been nothing but disappointments, let's hope the third or at least their leader will be a bit stronger." Natsu stated with a bored tone. They walked up until they met a muscled man with an own head and some sort of jetpack attacked to his back.

"Now it's time for you to deal with me, OOHOOO! (3 this guy) Let's see what you two got!" The owl-human-mech-hybrid-thing launched himself at the two. As he came in closer only a split second passed as the situation ended entirely different as he had imagined. He was being kicked in the face by two feet. On his left, a fiery demon. On his right, an evil demon. He got knocked back but quickly recovered in mid-air.

"So that's all you got huh? I'll be able to play with you a bit longer then." He spoke, whiping the blood from under his mouth. Somehow his speed increased drastically as he flew in circles, his pattern changed as he launched himself towards the lady. His mouth was whide open as he prepared to devour his enemy. Natsu quickly pushed Mirajane to the side but ended up being devoured himself.

"Hmmmm that was delishious, and it happens to be a fire mage too heh. Let's see how you deal with your boyfriend's flames, young lady." The hybrid-thing laughed as she knew what was going on when she saw his first attack.

"Take Over: Fire Dragon's Soul!" All the black on her body was replaced by red as she turned into her dragon take over form. Being a fire dragon's scales, they naturally provided immunity against fire. Natsu's flames might still damage her, but at least the scales would still reduce the damage by a lot. But she didn't know how effective the fire would be against her opponent either, having Natsu's magic. All she could do is try as she tried one of the many moves her lover had done so often.

"Roar of the fire dragon!" She shouted as the stream of fire from her mouth connected with her enemy. He didn't seem to be bothered by it though.

"Your friend's flames are way hotter than your own, lady. You can't beat me with that power." He yelled at her as he came with his fist ablaze. She knew she couldn't rely on the moves Natsu had shown her at that point. She then tried a move she was more familiar with. She swiftfully dodged the fists of her opponent and place her palms on his chest.

"Blaze Ignition!" She yelled as a fiery explosion came at the points of contact between her palms and his body. The enemy regained his balance again in mid-air, though something seemed off. He looked like he was going to puke. Another explosion occured from his mouth as the shock knocked him into a wall, leaving Natsu exposed the the air outside of his stomach.

"Natsu, you made it out!" Mirajane was happy her mate was in no immediate danger now. The serious expression on his face silenced her though. He glared at the air-borne opponent that left the crater in the wall.

"You used my own power against Mirajane, do you know what will happen to you now?" Natsu asked with a menacing voice.

"Why don't you go ahead and show me?" The owl-man-thing laughed, until the dragon slayer appeared with marvelous speed behind his back. The next few seconds were unclear as from Mirajane's POV it just seemed like their opponent was being knocked around in the air with a few bolts of fire flying around here and there. It didn't take very long before an unconscious own-man-mech-thing-hybrid-monster landed on solid ground.

"Let's go, we have to get to Erza!" Natsu commanded, his mate immediatly complied and both were now rushing for the top floor.

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Man is it just me or are these things getting harder to write, another chapter down for the count! Next chapter will be a standoff between Natsu and Jellal. Let us see how hard I can screw that battle up! :)


	16. Chapter 16

Sup, I hope the fighting wasn't as horendous to you as it was to me. I hope I'll at least make this fight a bit good. Natsu'll beat Jellal this chapter and it'll be the end of Tower of Heaven. Les go!

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"So ... You defeated the three mercenaries I sent downwards?" Jellal asked with a grin on his face.

"They weren't exactly a challenge, now give Erza back!" Natsu spat in his face. Both looked around to find Erza with her arms and legs stuck in something unfamiliar to them, but it was solid and hard. Jellal's magic power started to surge, it was then that Natsu sensed it.

"Mira, get Erza out of here. He's too powerful, you can't take him. I can't worry about you throughout the fight." He kept staring at their enemy as he said it. Mirajane looked at him to see how serious he was and nodded. She ran over to Erza as a beam of heavenly magic flew her way, only to be interrupted by a fireball.

"Your fight is with me, Jellal." Natsu spoke as his element overtook his body. Jellal raised an eyebrow at the magic he had used. It had changed his physical body, yet it wasn't take over. Not much magics can do that, so Jellal await his opponent's first move.

Natsu vaporized in the air, leaving a confused Jellal. To be sure he could avoid whatever would come at him, Jellal cast Meteor (Which we all know is annoying as hell to go up against).

Mirajane smashed whatever it was that Erza was stuck in. The scarlet-haired woman dropped down to her knees, it appeared she wasn't doing well on magic energy. The take over mage picked her up and dragged her down the stairs. Natsu noticed the two had made it out of the room and initiated his first attack.

Jellal sensed a presence behind him and immediatly flew up, dodging a flame in the shape of Natsu's fist. He looked at it questioningly before it disappeared again. He knew he couldn't rely on his eyes from this point and closed them, increasing the effectiveness of his other senses. He didn't know how effective physical attacks were against what he could sense, but it was time to find that out. Jellal turned around with a round-house kick as he knew Natsu was there, but his feet connected with only the hot air that was there.

"That won't exactly work, try something else maybe?" Natsu raised his voice like he was actually asking him to do so. Jellal looked surprised at the hot air until his limp body got smashed to the ground. The smoke cleared as Jellal crawled out of the small crater his crash had caused.

"You hit hard, dragon slayer. But how hard can you GET hit?" As Jellal yelled that to the sky Natsu's fiery appearance formed in the air.

"If you really wonder about that you should try harder to find out." The fire mage grinned. Jellal flew up in the opposite direction of Natsu who disappeared again. Jellal sensed his movement and stealthfully prepared an attack. The dragon slayer's body appeared before Jellal, just like he had predicted. Heavenly magic shot out from his palm in the shape of spears, every single one pierced Natsu as he fell down from the tower. After a little bit of falling he regained his balance.

"So you do want to know." Jellal was the one that grinned at that this time. His heavenly magic surrounded him as the meteor was in effect again. His hooded appearance rushed up, awaiting the dragon slayer to do the same. Not much longer the two mages were floating at opposite sides of the top of the tower, glaring at eachother. Natsu vaporized again as Jellal shot out many spears of his magic at where he suspected the dragon slayer to be. None of them had connected before Natsu appeared below the enemy and his fist connected with Jellal's chin. The mage regained his balance in mid-air after flying upwards from the tower.

"What kind of magic is it that you wield, Natsu Dragneel? I've never seen anything of the sort." Jellal asked the boy straight-out.

"Like I'd tell you that, even if I knew. Someone else showed me it's existance, so it's not like I know at least a tiny bit about it's origin or core." Natsu retalliated as he flew up at the mage.

"Not going to hide anymore?" Jellal asked while he grinned. The two clashed in mid-air and a fist fight emerged. The one attack after the other got blocked and countered in split seconds, after a while kicks were brought in as well. The first hit was for Jellal. Natsu lost his balance from the strike he recieved, this was easily exploited by his opponent. Jellal hit him with one strike after another and smashed him down. Natsu almost hit the sea before he slowed down and gained control over his flight pattern again. The fire mage engulfed himself in even more flames besides those of his body. Jellal prepared himself for the charge of his opponent. Natsu was about to hit him until magic circles of heavenly magic appeared all around him. Spears emerged from each one as those pierced him and held him in place. Natsu looked up at the mage and 7 magic circles above him

"Grand Chariot!" The spell rained down heavenly beams at the fire mage, which almost all connected. Natsu crashed down into the tower. He was no longer his element as the smoke appeared his normal body.

"Oh, is that really all that you got? I was hoping for a bit more, Natsu Dragneel. You disappoint me." Natsu's eyes widened at that. He was never going to disappoint anyone, not even his enemy ... especially not his enemy.

"Dragon ..." Natsu muttered something Jellal couldn't quite catch, so he came closer to the dragon slayer.

"Fusion!" The fire mage yelled in his face. The mark on his chest lit up as flames erupted from it. Jellal flew back and awaited the flames to disperse, when they did it revealed something that he wouldn't think he'd see in his entire life. Before him now stood a dragon with red scales. Before him, stood the image of Igneel, king of the fire dragons.

"H-How? What is this? A dragon?" Jellal stuttered. The yellow eyes of the dragon were revealed.

"Not just any dragon. This body is from the king of the fire dragons, Igneel!" The dragon spoke up with a very deep voice. Fear spread through Jellal's face as he panicked. He just fired an attack of heavenly beams at the dragon. After the smoke that Jellal's attack had caused dispersed, an undamaged dragon was revealed.

"Unless your the heavenly dragon slayer or something like that, you can't damage this body." The dragon explained as it lifted itself from the ground and charged at Jellal with it's teeth visible. Jellal used the meteor to flee from the dragon but it was even faster than Jellal was. Jellal's lower body was caught in the dragon's mouth, he squirmed as much as he could to get out but the dragon's mouth wouldn't move an inch. Once the dragon made it's way back to the tower it threw Jellal back down to the ground. The mage crashed into the lacrima ground before he got squashed by the dragon claws that landed on top of him. He was slapped around by claws, wings, ... until finally a red-scaled tail smashed him through a wall down to crash into a conversation between Mirajane, Erza and the other guild members who had just arrived. They jumped up in shock when the mage crashed into the sand that seperated them. The guild all looked up with their eyes almost jumped out of their eyecases. What they saw was a roaring fire dragon on top of the tower.

"No way, I thought Igneel died?" Mirajane spoke up, it was a question that lingered in all of their minds as the dragon made it's way down to the beach. What happened next answered the shocking thought of them all, only to be replaced by more shock. The flames that surged around the dragon dispersed to reveal a standing Natsu.

"That dragon ... was Natsu?" Gray muttered as the limp body that was Natsu's crashed into the sand before them. The shock in their faces was replaced by worry as everyone rushed to his side, relieved that he was alright. All of them left for the guild with the boat they had come with. Erza was alright after recovering her magic energy, but Natsu remained in the infirmary for a longer time. People started worrying for the boy's condition and they called Porlyusica over. She had taken a look at the boy and stated that everything seemed fine, she had no idea why the boy had not waken up yet.

"Natsu ..." A familiar, deep voice called out for him. Natsu awoke in a familiar black space, black except for the fire that illuminated a fire dragon.

"Igneel!" Natsu yelled his name and made his way over to the fire dragon.

"So ... how'd it feel? Fighting with my body?" The boy grinned at his question.

"It was amazing, I wish I was a dragon. So I can do that now? Like ... become you?" Igneel laughed at his excitement.

"Yes. It's like my soul and your body merge to make my body, leaving your soul in charge of it." Igneel explained Natsu's newborn power.

"That's awesome!" Natsu exclaimed with his fists before him. They continued to talk about random stuff they just had on their mind, leaving them laughing most of the time. Many had questioning looks on their faces when they saw the sleeping body of the fire mage smiling.

"It's about time for you to leave, Natsu. Your friends are worried about you." Natsu pouted at the command he was given.

"I think they can miss out on me for one night." He said with a smile. Igneel shook his head in response.

"You've been out for almost a week, Natsu." The dragon slayer's face was filled with shock by that information.

"A-A week?! Holy hell, you're right. I better get back then." Natsu brought out. The dragon nodded. Natsu's body was drawn away from the comfortable fire and his foster parent's body heat. His eyes opened quickly as he rushed up to greet everybody.

"Hey everyone! I'm up!" He saw many jaws hit the ground from pure surprise, how could he be out for almost a week and then get up as casual and energetic as that?

"What? Do I have something on my face?" He asked while scratching his cheek.

"Natsu, what kept you from consciousness for so long?" Makarov asked the boy as Natsu looked down at him.

"Oh, I was just talking to Igneel for some time." He grinned and brought his hands to the back of his head. The jaws that had just been raised from the ground hit it again.

"But, isn't he ... dead?" Makarov asked again, Natsu shook his head.

"I ate his essence, his soul. He lives on inside of me." The fire mage explained to the guild.

"Care to explain what happened back at that tower, how you looked like your father?" Makarov launched yet another question at him.

"Uh, well Igneel just explained it to me. My body sort of merged with his soul to recreate his, leaving my soul in charge of it." He wouldn't cease to amaze the entire guild. Makarov only grinned as all of his questions were now answered. Mirajane grabbed a hold of his hand.

"Care to let me check up on you?" She asked the boy and he shook his head while his eyes showed many perverted ideas. She chuckled at the sight and left the guild with him. They were walking homewards with their hands intertwined.

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Well, surprisingly enough I didn't do terrible. I actually think this went quite well. Thanks for reading y'all! This was today's chapter, I'll see you tomorrow!


	17. Chapter 17

The next day the master had announced a special event. People seemed excited to see what the master had in store for them, it wasn't very common for him to announce an activity like that. Around noon everybody had made it to the guild, they were now awaiting their master to explain what the event would be.

"SILENCE, BRATS!" Master Makarov screamed throughout the guild hall, he got the attention of every mage present.

"As you all know we'll have a special event today, I hope all of you will be able to enjoy yourselves! It'll be a race from here to were you'll have to pick up one of the many scales scattered around there and bring it back here. Good luck!" He explained the game as all the wizards now got up and ran to the start of the race, pumped with excitement. Natsu was stopped by Mirajane, after recieving a questioning look from him she pointed at the master who apparently wanted to have a private conversation with the boy.

"Natsu, care to make the race a bit more ... 'interesting'?" Natsu grinned deviously at the question as Makarov whispered some stuff in Natsu's ear, recieving a nod from the dragon slayer now and then. Soon all the participants, which included Natsu, gathered at the beginning and end of the race.

"Natsu, Ganbatte!" Mirajane shouted to him from the sidelines.

"Ready? 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... GO!" He spoke as a heavy gust of wind and huge sound made everybody wince, were Natsu previously was looked like an explosion had been directed behind him as the ground was completely destroyed. There was also a trail of fire from his starting position leading to the horizon, almost everybody sweat dropped at the sight. Soon enough everybody shook it off and all of the mages departed, leaving Jet up front with his High Speed magic. Natsu had stopped when he was out of sight and just disappated into the air. He would wait for Jet to arrive at the mountain. He would keep everybody there so that only the return to Magnolia from the mountain would be the actual race, while also tiring the mages the had a good advantage over the others.

He didn't have to wait long as Jet arrived shortly after him, he smirked as his playtime was about to start. Jet smirked at the sight of the scales he was about to pick up. His hand reached out for the pair of scales before a small trail of fire in the air moved it out of his grasp. Jet got a look of confusion on his face and reached out for the scales again, the same occured. This went on for quite some time until more mages joined the fun. Natsu smiled deviously at the hold up he was causing. Some of the mages started calling out his name with anger in their voices, which only made him enjoy it more. Finally everybody had arrived at the mountain.

Suddenly trails of fire appeared simultaniously to one point where all the scales had gathered. Natsu's fiery form appeared on top of the pile of scales.

"What the hell, Natsu?" Gray shouted at the mage who only smirked. Soon the pile exploded, making all of the scales fly off in a random direction. Every single person spurted down the mountain to grab a hold on a pair of scales. Natsu interrupted a few of them though, mostly Jet really. Jet tripped over a trail of fire on his way down and started rolling into a tree at the base of the mountain. He had crawled up on his feet as he already had gotten used to Natsu's interruptions.

Natsu enjoyed the pranks he was pulling on all the front-liners. The master had asked him to make sure the race was more balanced out by making him hinder everybody at the front.

"Natsu you're seriously annoying me now, will ya stop it?" Jet yelled out into the air. Natsu fiery form appeared before him, floating forward at the same speed Jet was running. Jet was glaring at the smirk he could see on his face.

"I'm just doing my job, Jet. It's not my fault you have to be up front, I won't bug you if you're behind everyone." Natsu provoked the speed mage who got a look of irritation on his face.

"I WILL BE THE WINNER OF THIS RACE!" He yelled with a determination as he picked up his pace, natsu just disappeared but still lingered around Jet in stealth. Slapping a branch from a tree in his face or pulling up a root from one in front of him at times. In the meantime almost everyone had gathered their scale as they now joined up on the way back to Magnolia. Nearlly everybody was at the neck-on-neck race glaring at eachother, trying to speed up. Magnolia was no in sight as they all tried to go for the end spurt.

Behind them was a could of dust and smoke as Jet appeared and they all sweat dropped at the determination they could read on his face. Jet passed them with ease, he was relieved as his destination was now in sight. He had already raised his arms in the air, claiming his victory. But just before he passed the finish he tripped over a small fire trail, leaving him face-first to the ground. Pretty much every single other mage tripped over his body. All the participants were now face-first to the ground in front of the finish line. Natsu's normal body formed, leaning onto one of the poles of the banner from the finish line with a pair of scales in his hand. Everybody looked questioning at him when he tilted his head into the direction of the finish line. After everyone had passed it Natsu slowly turned his body and made his way to the audience.

"I guess I lost." He shrugged with a grin. Even master Makarov was shocked at this point, he had stated that Natsu was free to take first place as he pleased.

'Could Natsu really be thoughtful and responsible?' He thought to himself as he directed his look from Natsu to Mirajane.

"You're really rubbing off some good habits on him, child." Mirajane smiled at him as he said that. Makarov wasn't going to punish him as Natsu had humbly given up not only his first place, but every place outside of the last one. People had thanked Natsu for saving them from being last, and making the race not as obvious as the ones were from the previous years.

"Now it's time to decide who'll become Miss Fairy Tail!" Makarov shouted as perverted screams of anxiety echoed through the guild hall.

"Uh ... Mira?" Natsu got a bit nervous as he turned to the take over mage. She gave him her warm smile as he slowly settled back down.

"Don't worry, I won't let them look at me like that. I'm all yours, remember?" She reassured him as she pointed at the mark on her collarbone. She then left him to go back-stage, preparing for her act. Max turned towards the microphone.

"We'll determine who'll become Miss Fairy Tail by whoever gets the biggest applause, so whoever you like most you better root for the most!" The crowd cheered at the announcement.

"Alright the, first one up is: Erza Scarlet!" Erza showed up and stood in the middle of the stage in her regular armor set. The light of her magic engulfed her body until she was left in her seduction armor. The crowd went wild at the sight. She made her way off the stage as she still recieved looks filled with lust ... namely from 2 perverted mages.

"Alright then, Erza started the contest with a favorable applaus right off the bat! Let's see what Cana can bring us!" Cana rushed up the stage with her cards circling around her. They created a cirle around her on the ground as the light of her magic also engulfed her body. When she was revealed she was left with only a bikini and a mug of beer in her hands, which was quickly left empty after having spent about half a second in Cana's hands. The crowd cheered for the alcoholic as she also left the stage to join Erza behind the curtains.

"Ok, now comes Fairy Tail's previous winnder. The favorite of Sorcered Weekly, Mirajane Strauss!" The crowd almost destroyed the guild hall at the call of her name, Natsu got a little nervous at that. Mirajane showed up in an elegant black dress as she asked for the microphone. She was singing a song for the guild with the angelic voice she had. Almost everybody was slowly shaking their head from left to right. After she ended her song the cheering almost filled the entirety of Magnolia.

"It looks like Mirajane is about to take the same title again, but we have one more girl to prove herself. Fairy Tail's newest rookie: Lucy Heartfillia!" The blond-haired celestial mage rushed up the stage and prepared for an act with her spirits. That was until she was pushed to the side by a light brown-haired mage who was dressed in green.

"The true Miss Fairy Tail has arrived!" She shouted at the confused mages in front of her. Max looked at her in fear. The curtains behind her had lifted up to show every female participant in the form of a statue. Natsu immediatly felt his flames surge at the sight of the statue that resembled Mirajane. The double doors of the build opened to reveal Freed Justine and Bickslow behind Laxus.

"Laxus, what is the meaning of this?" Makarov asked his grandson in a menacing tone.

"Hi there, gramps." The lightning mage grinned as he turned his glare over to an enraged fire dragon slayer.

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Sorry, this was a shorter one. I just got tired by the thought of writing today. Sorry this one's late too, 's servers were acting up yesterday and I couldn't upload :C SO I DO NOT COUNT YESTERDAY AS A MISSED DAY, I STILL GOT MY PERFECT ATTENDENCE THING GOING! DON'T ANY OF YOU THINK OTHERWISE! Expect another chapter today since I still have to write one today. See y'all! :)


	18. Chapter 18

Blame me all you want, I didn't get to write a chapter yesterday :C Pls don't hate me :C I try so hard :C I want to be there for you guys, I swear :C Ok now that I've spammed all the sad faces let's get on with the start of 'Laxus coming back to be a complete ass and almost cause the destruction of the guild! Thanks y'all for reading!

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"Laxus, what is the meaning of this?!" Makarov yelled at Laxus who was followed by Bixlow and Freed.

"Hey there, old man." The lightning mage responded nonchalantly. His gaze diverted to an outraged fire dragon slayer.

"Don't get too fired up before the games, Natsu." Laxus chuckled at his comment.

"YOU BASTARD!" The fire mage ignited his fast and lunged at Laxus, who only took a step back from the entrance. A set of runes stopped the punch from connecting.

"What is this crap, playing dirty again?" Natsu hissed at the lightning dragon slayer.

"Hardly, those are just the boundaries of the game we're all about to play." Laxus smirked at the words.

"You see, those girls over there are our hostages to make sure you'll all play nice. You'll all head out and try to defeat the Raijinshuu, finding them will not be too easy though." Laxus explain his so-called 'game', earning growls from the crowd before him.

"If you somehow manage to defeat the raijinshuu, it's my turn to play." Laxus spoke the overconfident words. The raijinshuu and Laxus were removed from sight as the guild stormed out to find them. Makarov and Natsu were still stopped at the door though.

"For fuck's sake what is this crap?" Natsu was getting pissed from not being able to 'compete'.

"The runes said they won't let people older than 80 through, so that explains why master can't make it through. I don't know why it won't let you through, Natsu." Levy tried to reason.

"Can you fix it somehow? Your magic and rune magic are related, right?" Natsu desperately asked the script mage. She nodded and replied that she will try her best.

The iron dragon slayer joined the salamander with twisting his thumbs while awaiting Levy to lift the runes' effect. In the meanwhile they could keep up with outside's events as they were displayed on the rune wall that blocked off the entrance.

"What are these kids doing fighting eachother?" Makarov clenched his fists while looking at the runes. The mages of Fairy Tail were brawling amongst themselves for some reasong, Freed had set up the entire area with small dueling areas. Only the mages that were stronger than their opponent were allowed to continue.

"Levy, any progress?" Natsu turned towards the blue-haired mage. She shook her head. Erza's statue slowly cracked, everybody in the guild hall turned to see what caused the sound. Erza's statue dropped to the ground and slowly cracked harder and harder, the mages held their breaths hoping she wouldn't die right there. The stone collapsed around Erza's body, she casually stood up and rushed out of the building.

"Erza?" A couple of the mages muttered in surprise. Erza knew what was going on, she could hear the talking in the guild hall. She was to beat the raijinshuu if they were going to solve this. As if on queu Evergreen launched a Fairy Tail Maching Gun: Leprachaun at Erza, who naturally had sharp enough reflexes to dodge a sneak attack like that.

"Care to explain what the hell you were thinking when you guys started this?" Erza mocked as she re-quipped into her flight armor. The armor set she was wearing gave her the required agility to dodge the leprachaun attack from Evergreen until she increased the power of it to send even more projectiles her way. They would scratch her every now and then whil Erza rushed the her opponent preparing to strike.

"Damn it! I'm not going to watch idly while my nakama are losing the fight!" Natsu's incapability to help his fellow guild members was really getting to him. He was sitting next to Mirajane's statue which suddenly also started cracking. All of the other statues soon were slowly crumbling to reveal the female mages.

"Mira!" Natsu lunged at his mate, pulling her into his embrace. She pushed him from him trying to regain her breath.

"I was so fricking worried!" Natsu slammed his fist on the ground before her. He lifted his head with the touch of her hand on his cheek, drawing his face closer to hers as their lips crossed. Almost every member was looking away from them, including a blushing celestial mage.

"I GOT IT!" Levy shouted for them all to hear while watching the runes disperse. Natsu looked at Mirajane who nodded at him, he rushed at the doors.

"It looks like I've lost my hostages, well then why don't we add another rule to the game? Something like ... the 'hall of thunder' maybe?" The voice echoing through the guild hall resembled Laxus. Makarov's eyes widened at hearing that name. Looking outside they saw the floating orbs of lightning spread all around the city.

"What is that boy thinking, involving the innocent townspeople in this?" Makarov hissed at the air. Natsu placed his hands on Makarov's shoulders.

"I'll take care of it, gramps!" He reassured him with his well-known grin.

"You can't, Natsu. If you hit one of those things it will return the damage you did to it." Makarov explained, Natsu got into a thinking pose for a bit.

"We won't know 'til we try!" He confidently spoke. Natsu rushed to the middle of town, obstructed by many of the townspeople. The entire guild was now out looking for the Raijinshuu.

Erza was standing victorious before Evergreen's knocked out form. She had bruises and cuts all over her body, but she ended up winning the fight. She noticed the pink-haired dragon slayer rushing through the streets and immediatly sprinted to his side.

"Natsu? How'd you get out?" Natsu looked over to greet Erza with his smile.

"Levy lifted the runes that kept us inside. I gotta take care of this 'hall of thunder' now. See ya!" He said casually as if nothing serious was going on. Erza's shocked face looked around the city to confirm what he had just said. Mirajane had joined up with her other siblings, they were searching for the raijinshuu as was the entire guild. Warren coordinated the search parties with his communication abilites from the guild.

"You broke the rules, I won't allow anyone to break the rules like you did!" Freed spoke up from the side of a building he had just appeared on. The group of Strauss siblings looked up at him, growling his name. He made his rune wings appear before quickly casting "Dark Eicriture: Pain" on the Silver-haired mages before him. The additional endurance of Mirajane's Satan Soul form made her barely notice the pain. The effect on her fellow siblings was bigger as Freed kept striking them with the same spell.

Mirajane launched at the rune mage for a physical attack that would send him flying into the building behind him butt Freed could regain his balance before touching the contruction, this gave Mirajane the time to make her way behind him and cast Evil Spark. She was preparing an Evil Explosion as his body crashed into the ground beneath him. Her fellow siblings were still suffering from the pain Freed had caused them. The smoke revealed Freed in his Darkness form.

"Want to see which one of us is the true 'Demon' ?" Freed grinned confidently at her. She smirked right back at him.

"What if I'm not only a demon?" She spoke while gaining the red scales, tail, wings and claw of a fire dragon. This shocked not only Freed, but also the silver-haired mages behind him. Freed tried multiple spells his Darkness form would allow him to cast, but none of them seemed to have a great effect on the now half-dragon. The scales were too tough for his magic to break through. Mirajane only launched at him with fiery claws set ablaze without wasting too much magic energy to take him out. Her dragon form was too much for the rune mage as he was found unconscious on the ground. Mirajane returned to her regular form and rushed towards her brother and sister, who weren't suffering anymore.

"W-What was that, nee-chan?" Elfman brought out in shock.

"Oh, just a dragon soul that Natsu's dad gave me." She smiled as she spoke the words as casually a spossible. Natsu had finally made his way to the Town's center with Erza still right behind him. He stopped when he reached the plaza.

"Natsu, what do you think you're going to do about it?" Erza asked the fire mage only to recieve a grin. He sat down with his legs crossed as he gained his fiery composure. Two fire dragon slayer's magic circles appeared below and above him, lifting him up until he was at the same altitude as the 'wall of lightning's power sources.

"Erza, what the heck is Natsu going to do?" Warren's voice echoed in Erza's mind.

"I don't know, he just grinned at me when I asked him the same question." Erza replied as everybody from Fairy Tail saw the fire mage rise into the air.

"I hope he knows what he's doing, we'll just have to believe in him." The guild replied with sounds of confidence and faith. 4 other magic circles in the same form appeared in each direction around the fire mage in the sky. A stream of electricty from the lightning balls was drawn to the four magic circles, absorbing the energy from the 'wall of lightning'. The lightning came out of the other side of the magic circles in the form of concentrated electricity, streaming into the fire mage's body. An explosion of fire and lightning erupted from his location.

The eyes of every guild member were looking straight at the explosion, not knowing what the result would be. Once the fog faded the fiery body of the fire mage was revealed, with a couple more attributes. Horns and spikes of lightning erupted from his head and shoulders. Lightning bolts ran down from his torso to his legs. Blades of electricity formed onto his upper arms, these attributes were all formed from raw electricity. Natsu spun his new body around in his speed, the blades on his arms generated a circle of electricity. The dragon slayer stopped his body with his arms spread out in opposite directions, one slightly turned behind him and higher up while the other was a bit lower and slightly turned to the front of him. With this motion the cicrcle of lightning widened until it reached all of the floating orbs, which all exploded and were destroyed simultaniously. Natsu's face showed a grin for his new-found power.

The real fight would start soon.


	19. Chapter 19

Sorry that this chapter is also late :C But I had a bit of trouble with the fight, I'd rather have it being a full one a bit late than on time and being half a fight. Man I'm not doing so well lately trying to keep up with business, mom decided my life needed to be harder than it is . At least I sort of permit myself to have 2 days (of which 1 was yesterday) off because of the 2 days I have uploaded 2 chapters instead of just 1, makes sense if you think about it but if you don't that's fine too :)

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Not one guild member had his eyes on something other than the fire dragon slayer that swiftly had taken care of the hall of thunder while gaining some powers himself. When he descended back to the ground there were a lot of recognizable faces gathered at the plaza to check up on him. The Strauss siblings, Team Natsu except for Gray, Juvia and Gajeel who had joined Fairy Tail and earned the respect of the guild, Max, Alzack, Cana. Every Fairy Tail mage that wasn't out had made his/her way to the center of town, to where Natsu was.

"I think you all can handle Bixlow, try to take him down first. I'll handle Laxus." A lightning bolt left from where Natsu just was, fire erupting from all around it. The guild members spread out in search of the last member of the raijinshuu. Bixlow was found by Max first and ended up victorious in that fight. The recent location of the battle between those 2 was a hint to Bickslow estimated whereabouts and Warren guided the guild according to these, grouping them up so they wouldn't get picked off. The next group that ran into him was Juvia and Cana, Bixlow barely managed to claim victory in this battle as he had used his magic energy in previous fights and the two female mages had put it a good fight.

"Cana and Juvia are down but he's pretty weak right now, the first group that meets him should be able to take him down!" Warren informed the wandering groups. Bixslow was catching his breath on top of a building that provided him with good cover and vision. He could see Erza and Lucy in the distance and quickly ran in the opposite direction, right before he turned the corner however he was met with the grin of an iron dragon slayer. The runes Freed had set up had now entrapped the both of them and there was no way for Bixlow to escape.

"Nowhere to run now, you're out of luck." Gajeel smirked. Bixlow was in no condition to fight, he couldn't win this duel. He would only helplessly squirm against the runes as he hoped they'd somehow let him go, but he had no such luck. It didn't take long for him to get beaten by the dragon slayer who picked him up to bring him over to the guild hall. Warren had notified them all of the capture and now every Fairy Tail mage was headed to find Laxus and Natsu. The fire mage was bolting through the streets, he could smell Laxus. It wasn't long before the dragons slayer had found the lightning mage.

"Natsu, that you? Well don't you look cute with that." Laxus smirked as he had turned around to face the fire dragon slayer. Natsu wouldn't get provoked so easily and instead only glared at Laxus.

"You've become stronger, sure, but don't you think you're a little mind-numb to think you can beat me?" Laxus spoke overconfidentally. Natsu humbly smiled back at him, recieving a questioning glare from the lightning mage.

"The winner of this battle will not be decided by pure strength, Laxus. I had hoped you at least knew that much." The lightning mage gritted his teeth at the comment Natsu just made.

"Is that so, smarty pants? Why don't we find out? We both know I'm stronger than you so we'll put your little statement to the test." Laxus spat at the fire mage who only smiled in response.

"You really are overestimating yourself. I won't give you a chance to back down, Laxus. Give me everything you got!" Laxus didn't need to be told twice as his lightning erupted from his body. Laxus rushed to Natsu who was erupting with flames and lightning, now also charging at him. The two clashed with their fists striking eachother, Natsu's lightning nullified Laxus' as the fire from the fire mage overwhelmed him. Laxus was thrown backwards by the flames as he growled at his opponent. The first move was Natsu's. He stood with his arms crossed and a carefree look opposing Laxus, it ticked the lightning mage off. Laxus swiftly moved around the room in his lightning form, looking for an opening from the fire mage.

"Natsu!" Both of the mages turned to see the mages from Fairy Tail, they were all severely damaged and worn out after rushing around the city either getting beaten or having a tough fight. Laxus smirked at the site and charged at them, before he could touch them Natsu dashed between them and took the hit. The fire mage hardly flinched while gritting his teeth.

"Your fight is with me, Laxus. Don't you have something to prove? Weren't you the strongest mage in the guild?" Natsu spat in disgust at the lightning mage who angered at Natsu's question.

"Must you even ask, I AM the strongest!" Laxus shouted the words confidently as his muscles expanded and scales grew on his arms, lightning raged through every part of his body. The guild gasped in surprise at the revelation of Laxus being a dragon slayer, Gajeel was slightly less surprised as he'd picked up a faint smell on Laxus as a dragon slayer and Natsu had known for some time now.

"I'll show you what a _true_ dragon slayer is!" Laxus prepared the lightning dragon roar as the guild members were still shocked by their recent discovery. Natsu positioned himself in front of everybody, watching the stream of lightning charge at him. He produced a lightning vortex from his hands that caught the lightning stream and after a short while spat it back at Laxus with flames raging around it. Laxus was too fast in his lightning form for it to hit but seeing his attack being turned against him with such ease still angered him. Natsu was not as comfortable with the other guild members around, he had to make sure they'd be all right and Laxus knew that.

Erza noticed the tense in between the two mages and realized they were only going to be in Natsu's way, she turned and tried to push everyone out of the building but was stopped by a stream of lightning.

"Tut tut, the fight was just about to start. I want you all to see how I'll squash your " Laxus spoke annoyingly, recieving a glare from almost every mage before him. With Laxus' speed he charged for the group until he was stopped by a punch from Natsu who rushed to protect his guild mates. The group wasn't fast enough to dodge Laxus' charges so all they could do was count on Natsu to counter his blows, this went on for a little while until Laxus stopped moving before them. Natsu charged at him this time, Laxus backed away from all his blows until his back met the wall. Natsu's fight went straight for his face until it turned into lightning and dispersed over the wall. The lightning formed Laxus' magic circle and a giant stream of lightning hit Natsu shortly afterwards. Natsu had raised his arms with a defensive purpose after the attack passed. None of the guild members had suffered any damage. Laxus appeared behind Natsu and kicked him in the head, Natsu flung to the side as Laxus followed him with his speed. The lightning mage kicked Natsu back into the air and then back into the ground before the guild members.

when he stood silently before them he raised his arm into the air and charged electricity.

"Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder. Plunge from the heavens and reap destruction. RAGING BOLT!" The lightning ball that had formed in the air above him came down with a motion of Laxus' hand, charging at the group. They all tried to move out of the way, everyone but Natsu who just stood up. He disbanded his flames into hot air and made it fly around the room. His lightning exo-skeleton charging in the form of a lightning bolt at the ball. When it pierced the orb it came out on the other side with brighter and more electricity, the further the bolt moved from the orb the ball was decreasing in size until nothing was left on it. The increased lightning bolt then charged at Laxus, gaining fire from the hot air around it. The bolt pierced Laxus with all the fire blazing against his chest. Laxus dropped to the ground and lost consciousness. Natsu's body formed again. The lightning dispersed and the flames formed his own natural body. The fire dragon slayer followed his opponent into unconsciousness. The guild rushed to his body and brought him back to the guild, dragging Laxus along.

Natsu woke up once again in the darkness of his subconscious and walked over to the comfortable flame and his foster parent.

"So how'd that go? You got some lightning." Igneel spoke as it was the most casual thing in the world.

"What even happened? Like how did I do that?" Natsu looked up at his father with a look of confusion.

"Why ask me? You're the one that did it." Igneel replied to his question.

"I did it on impulse, like all the things I do." The fire mage grinned up.

"You managed to gain another element, it won't be as powerful or reliable as your primary element though. But you managed to gain lightning and add it to your flames. There are many elements you can make your flames join up with. You could even make your flames cold and blue or sharp and solid or maybe even dark and chill." Igneel explained, Natsu looked up with the smile of anxiety.

"I so want that all of that!" Igneel laughed at his son's excitement.

"Maybe you will, who knows." Natsu continued grinning.

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"Do you think he's talking to Igneel again?" Erza asked when she came up to check on the dragon slayer in the infirmary.

"He's got to, he's smiling again." Mirajane responded while she was staring at his grin from the chair she was sitting in. Erza placed her hand on the silver haired woman's shoulder.

"But, man. He sure was powerful out there. He just used Laxus' lightning to power up his own." Erza started to talk about their battle.

"Yeah, do you know how he did that? Gaining his own lightning, I mean." Erza shook her head.

"No clue, all we can is wait for him to wake up and ask him." Mirajane glared at the knight mage.

"When he wakes up he's going to be with me and have some fun, not answer the guild's questions!" She stood up and glared down at Erza who sweatdropped.

"Sure, Mira! I hope it's going to be fun for him too, though." Erza's voice went silent with the last part, but it didn't stop the take over mage from understanding her.

"Oh I'm sure he'll appreciate it, just you wait." She now grinned happily at the pink-haired man.

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Ok that was that fight. It probably really wasn't worth the 2 days but cut me some slack I suck at writing fights. This story is becoming increasingly difficult to write as the impulses stop coming :C But I'll still keep trying! The fights are the hardest though, I can try to rush through the smaller ones but I at least need to make the big ones presentable, right? See y'all later when I upload the next chapter!


	20. Chapter 20

Hey everyone! I managed to get a chapter out today even though it's a short one :( It's the 20th chapter so I thought I'd just do a shoutout to my loyal readers and those who have given me tons of support. So thanks a bunch: Nazahero, Volatile Words, blazeinferno, Vergil Leonidas, Prototype Stratos, ValinNight, treeofsakuras, QuatroPuppy, sapphire dragon slayer alex, NinjaFang1331, Natsu Is Awesome... For all your support and attention for the story! I think I got everyone there, I have talked with almost everyone I just mentioned except a couple and treeofsakuras because he doesn't reply to PMs :( I'm not even sure who else I haven't talked to so if you're on this list and I have yet to talk to you just PM me and allow me to thank you for your support privately :) Alright now I'll move on to the chapter, hope y'all enjoy it!

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"Tell me more about these flames, Igneel!" Natsu was so excited about gaining these new powers.

"You won't learn them just like that. I'm very surprised you managed to learn the lightning flame without learning the basics, you've even used the blue flame before." Natsu raised an eyebrow at this.

"Must've been another 'spur of the moment' thing huh? Sigh, moving on. The base of all flames is one golden flame, the flame of rebuke. This flame is a comfortable and warm one, it's not the most offensive of flames." Natsu raised an eyebrow at a flame not being offensive.

"The flame of rebuke resembles your sins, not in a bad way. They resemble your sins so you are open with them in order for them to be forgiven, the flame shows kindness in that way and has a comfortable warmth. This flame can evolve into all the other flames." Igneel continued. The flame before them turned golden as they spoke.

"That is what the flame of rebuke looks like, it's the purest of flames. It's up to you to learn how to use this flame. You've already learned 2 of the more avanced flames, I can't say I can offer you much more than the basics. After this one the only limit to your flames is how much is compatible with fire, and that's a lot." Natsu leaned out to touch the flame before him. When his hand reached the fire he could feel how the flame embraced his hand, it was the most comfortable flame he'd ever felt. The flame took the shape of the man in front of him.

"Looks like it likes you." Igneel joked, he knew what this really meant. Natsu turned with a questioning look to his father.

"It's forgiving the sins you have comitted right now." Igneel explained. Natsu's face lit up immediatly as he heard those words.

"Does that mean I'll get the flame?!" Natsu almost crossed his fingers as a reflex hoping that he'd gain the golden flame.

"That's very likely to happen at this point, but it's really up to you." Igneel grinned, knowing Natsu would not fully understand his explenation. The golden flame erupted into a huge pillar before it faded away. Natsu was surrounded by pure darkness. When he could see again he was looking up at the ceiling of the infirmary.

"Natsu, you're awake!" Mirajane yelled at him from the other side of the room. Natsu was now sitting straight up looking at his hand, which he slowly ignited with the flame or rebuke. Mirajane was looking with curiosity while Natsu grinned.

"Um, Natsu? Are you ok?" Mirajane asked concerned, he nodded and let the flames engulf his entire body. He motioned Mirajane to come closer, she wasn't sure at first but closed the distance between them nonetheless. Natsu spread the flames over her body, much to her surprise they weren't hot but warm.

"Natsu, what is this? What happened while you were out?" The silver-haired maiden was slightly concerned about Natsu's experiences.

"Had a good talk with Igneel, says I can get all the different kinds of flames I want based on this one!" Natsu got out his childish and playful grin as he explained this.

"All the other flames? So you'll be gaining even more things like the lightning flame?" Natsu replied with a nod, she sighed at the confirmation.

"Does that mean a lot more training?" The fire dragon slayer raised both his arms into the air.

"You bet!" Mirajane smiled at his excitement.

"I'm not going to let them steal any more time from us, let's leave through the window." Mirajane suggested, burning with sensation.

"Uh, alright!" Natsu got up and made his way to said window. Mirajane was holding his hand while their free hands opened the window. With a swift leap they left the Fairy Tail building, rushing to the nearby forest while their hands were still holding eachother tightly. After they reached the small river flowing throug the trees. They sat down against one, Mirajane's head on Natsu's chest.

"The guild's left so little time for us lately." Mirajane complained.

"Yeah ... Thought it's not really the guild's fault, stuff just happened." Natsu reasoned.

"Still, so much stuff just has to happen. Why can't we just get a nice break?" She looked up at her love.

"Well we're forcing one right now, are we not?" Mirajane grinned and went to sit on his thighs.

"Hell yeah we are, finally some time to ourselves." She whispered the last part in his ears, making shivers go down Natsu's spine. She pushed her lips upon his own, the only form of resistance that could be found from the dragon slayer was from his tongue. Natsu quickly let his hands explore her body from her waist up to her breast. Mirajane moaned at Natsu's touch.

"Natsu ... This isn't ... The place. That's fo... For tonight." She struggled against his touch while moaning between her words.

"A little foreplay can't hurt, right?" Natsu laughed at his mate. Mirajane slid her hand over his pants, the man was now gasping for air. Mirajane cut him off by sealing his lips with her own. She felt a slight brush of fire in the back of her neck.

"Natsu, you want to burn my clothes down or what?" She giggled until she noticed the very shocked expression on Natsu's face after she had released their lip lock. She looked behind her to see what it was until her own face dropped in shock. Before the two stood a fire dragon, staring them down with a glare.

"I take it you are Natsu Dragneel?" The dragon asked.

"You would be correct, is this regarding Igneel?" Natsu replied in a serious matter while standing up, leaving a pouting Mirajane on the ground. The dragon nodded, he took out a scroll and handed it to Natsu.

"This will allow you to enter the land of the fire dragons, you are expected to be accompanied by your mate and family. If you succeed through the trials we will have to save data on all of them." The dragon explained.

"Trials?" Mirajane asked, standing up from where she was sitting. Natsu and the dragon nodded at her.

"Before he can become the king of the fire dragons he must go through the trials and succeed, only then has he proven to be strong enough to lead us." The dragon continued explaining.

"Oh, so does that mean the entire guild will be there?" Natsu got into a thinking pose for a little while.

"I guess it does." He grinned at her. The dragon cleared his throat.

"You are expected tomorrow at noon." The dragon flew off after giving them a time. Mirajane was still digesting it all, Natsu was really going to become the king of the fire dragons.

"Is this really happening? Are you really going to be a king of dragons?" Mirajane questioned him. He directed his smile at her again.

"Yeah, and you'll be my queen." Mirajane blushed slightly at the idea until she was pulled into another deep kiss. Natsu pulled her out of the forest towards the guild. When they opened the doors to the guild hall multiple mages tackled him down.

"What the hell, Natsu! Where were you?!" Gray asked the fire mage. Erza pulled him up and knocked Gray out with a swift punch.

"I was in the forest with Mirajane, but that's not important right now. Tomorrow are my trials!" Natsu shouted for everyone to hear.

"Trials? What are you talking about?" Erza questioned him. Master Makarov came out of his office to listen to what Natsu had to say.

"The trials for me to become the king of the fire dragons. We met a fire dragon in the forest who explained everything. I was asked to bring you all too!" Natsu looked very excited to bring his family over to a land of dragons. Master Makarov walked over to Natsu.

"What time exactly?" Makarov asked seriously.

"Noon, I can get us there." Natsu replied to his question, Makarov nodded.

"Then let's PARTY before it's that time!" Makarov shouted so the entire guild understood what he meant. Loud cheers could be heard and mugs of beer clashed. The regular guild brawls came and went, it was Fairy Tail afer all.

After the party had subsided most members quickly made their way home, that included our dragon mates of royalty. Soon they were found in bed wondering what would happen the next day.

"So how will you get us there?" Mirajane asked her mate.

"You'll see, it's nothing you should worry about." Natsu assured her. Mirajane seductively stared at him, of which he took notice.

"Well let me at least give you my blessing before tomorrow." She grinned while moving on top of him. Natsu got the message and didn't resist. It was going to be a blissful night for them.

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Was a shorty but well what can you do, at least they're still frequent. Thank you all for sticking with me! I'll see you all in the next chapter,


	21. Chapter 21

In the morning there was just as much excitement in the dragon slayer's house as the night beforehand. Natsu was pounding into Mirajane who was on top of him. Mirajane's back was arched as her breasts were rubbing over his face. Natsu started nibbling on the erect nipples to which Mirajane moaned in response. Without removing his member from her, Natsu spun them around so that he was on top. He nestled his neck in Mirajane's neck, licking and kissing the soft skin while fondling one of the fleshy orbs on her chest. His free hand made his way down her body and explored every bit of skin it came across, her waist, her legs, her arms, her neck, her face.

Mirajane kept moaning louder and louder until Natsu silenced her, and by silencing I mean he cut her air off by pressing his lips up to hers. Mirajane grabbed a tight hold of his back as her legs moved around his waist. Their tongues soon got caught up in a battle for dominance as Natsu's thrusts became more violant.

"Natsuuu ..." Mirajane moaned as they gasped for air. Natsu nodded as he caught what she meant. He sped up his pounding until they both released their juices into eachother. Natsu dropped to Mirajane's side as they caught their breath, her sex was overflowing with Natsu's seed and her own juice. She giggled at the sight not long before Natsu noticed the same thing himself.

"Some blessing." Natsu brought out with a smile, they continued to laugh while staring at eachother. After having grown silent for a little while Mirajane stood up and checked what time it was in the living room.

"Natsu, get up! It's almost time!" The fire mage understood before he rushed out of bed, getting dressed as fast as he could. With his vest inside-out and his belt loose he rushed out of the room to see a giggling Mirajane, he gave her a questioning look.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to do it properly." She seductively walked towards him, fixing up his clothes.

"There, that's better." She smiled at the pouting face of the dragon slayer.

"Well, let's get going then!" Natsu rushed to grab the scroll that yesterday's dragon had left him and grabbed Mirajane's had to rush off to the guild hall with her. As they arrived the entire guild was waiting for them.

"Of course flame brain has to be the last one to arrive even though he's the reason everyone's here." Gray muttered loudly while staring to the side.

"Wanna go at it, ice princess?" Natsu's forehead clashed with the ice mage's.

"If you can keep up, sure ash-for-breath!" Gray countered.

"Boys ..." An angry Erza glared at them with her arms crossed.

"Just a friendly rivalry to get the the future king of the fire dragons all fired up, hehehehe." Gray quickly changed personality to save himself from the wrath of the knight mage who approved of his behavior.

"Well then. Natsu, how will you get us there?" Makarov stepped forward.

"I was given this by the fire dragon we met yesterday." Natsu held out the scroll in front of him. He positioned himself towards the forest, when they reached it Natsu came to a stop. He infused his magic into the scroll while he rolled it open to his left and right. In the middle of the scroll was the magic circle of a fire dragon or fire dragon slayer, while still rolling open the magic circle began to light up. The abstract lines that branched from the magic circle lit up towards the end of the scroll as well. When it reached the end of it fiery pillars of fire formed from the ends of large scroll to form a rectangle.

The air in the rectangle of fire began to shift as the abstract lines on the scroll began to light up over the same air, leaving the scroll. After a whole lot of fire spreading through the fiery boundaries the same magic circle appeared on a much larger scale in the middle of the flaming construction. Finally concrete materialized in between the lines that were set ablaze. All the fire retracted in a vertical line splitting the rectangle in half, seperating two halves of the concrete that became the doors to the land of the fire dragons. These large rocks moved to give access to the mages before it that stared in awe at what had just happened.

Natsu turned to see his nakama with shock written all over their faces, he grinned at them before motioning them to follow him. Slowly they entered the land full of lava and fire, the ground below them was extremely hot. Natsu had removed his shoewear as the rest clung up to Gray and embraces his cold body temperature. Mirajane was slightly used to heat that was hotter than average but not to this moved forward until they saw a giant building carved out of a mountain before them. The same fire dragon that Natsu and Mirajane had met the previous day came to greet them.

"It seems you managed to find us, are these all people closest to you?" Natsu nodded as a response. They were asked to enter the building and went through a lot of questions from the dragons as the data was stored in a giant book that had information over Natsu Dragneel, 3rd king of the fire dragons. It appeared like they all had confidence that Natsu could pass the trials.

"I suggest you all stay close to the son of Igneel, the only reason you all haven't burned up to a crisp is because you were protected by his aura." A dragon explained while he guided them to their quarters. They had just heard that the trials would take 3 days and Natsu would be forced to use a different kind of flame each day. A king had to have at least mastered 3 different flames, Igneel just had too much pride in his crimson flames to use anything else. They had 1 hour to prepare for the first trial. After everybody had unpacked, since Natsu had told them it would be longer than only 1 day, they followed Natsu outside to explore the unknown land.

"Say, Natsu. Haven't you been here before looking for Igneel?" Erza asked the fire mage who clearly didn't know where he was going either.

"No, I couldn't enter it. I needed that scroll that the dragon gave me, otherwise there is no way for a human to enter a land of dragons. You need that scroll and dragon slayer magic corresponding to the element." Natsu explained as he had never known much about the land but that.

"So you always was thinking of how it was possible that he was just here but you still kept looking in our world? Some knucklehead you are." Gray questioned the new information he had just recieved to recieve a glare from Natsu.

"If you knew Ur was possibly still with us but could also be somewhere unreachable for you would you stop or keep looking for her?" Natsu retalliated, Gray's mouth was shut with that statement.

"So where are we going now, Natsu?" Mirajane asked her mate.

"You're going to have to trust me with this, but we're all going to bathe in lava." Natsu responded to her questioning with an answer that he made look like the most casual in the world. Jaws dropped at what he just said.

"What makes you think we can handle lava surrounding our body?" Makarov asked the boy, still having faith in Natsu's actions.

"My aura, the dragon told you. My aura protects you from the immense heat around here, all I have to do is intensify it and you guys won't get hurt by the lava, it'll be just like a hot spring." he grinned at the comparison. Soon they reached a lavafall (don't question it) which fell into a lake of lava. Natsu positioned himself in a meditating pose on a rock so that the lave would gently fall on his shoulders and drop from his body into the pool. His legs were crossed, his eyes were closed and his knuckles and thumbs were touching eachother while his fingers were turned towards him and away from eachother. He was preparing for the trials he was about to undergo.

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This chapter was a ton of fun to write! I really liked the environment in this one. The trials will follow in future chapters! I don't even know what they'll be yet, we'll all see I guess :) apparently my parents read my story, so uhm ... If I don't upload for a while ... then ... I'm either 'employed' as punishment for the lemon maybe (?) or I'm dead ... jk they love my story! :) I don't know why though ... See y'all! I'm crazy! Bye! :D


	22. Chapter 22

The guild watched as Natsu's magical power seemed to surge and the heat of the pool felt more pleasant. Mirajane was the first to put her faith in the dragon slayer and slowly decended into the lava pit. All the eyes were on her as the hot liquid slowly hugged her slim body. She let all her muscles relax to the pleasant temperature after nodding in approval to the rest of the guild. One after another slowly dropped into the pool and recieved the pleasurable sensation, some people looking over at Natsu every one in a while. He wouldn't move an inch or open his eyes. After a while Mirajane drifted towards him.

"Hey, whatcha doin'?" She whispered.

"I'm keeping you guys from dying, and trying to get a flame covered." She chuckled at the idea of those two things being casual as ever.

"You're supposed to have 3 flames right, which ones are those in your case?" Mirajane asked out of curiosity.

"The flame of rebuke is the base of all flames, it's the golden one. It won't count for the trials though, since it's not an offensive flame. I got my regular crimson flames, then there's the lightning flame. But I'm working on a cold flame, a blue one." Mirajane raised an eyebrow at the adjective 'Cold' put together with 'Flame'.

"A cold flame? Is that possible?" Natsu nodded as a reply. Then he opened his eyes, thinking of something.

"Gray, freeze one of my hands!" Natsu ordered as he held out his fist, recieving confused stares from the mages surrounding him. Gray shrugged it off and did as he was asked, Natsu's fist was now covered in an orb of ice. He ignited his other hand with the flame of rebuke and held it under the frozen fist. As the flame surged through the ice it rose up from it as a blue, icy flame. Natsu wasn't able to conjure it yet though, he managed to replicate it.

"Is that the flame you mentioned?" Mirajane looked over at him.

"Not exactly, this is more like a replica. But the principals are the same." Natsu spoke as he sucked the blue fire right into his mouth. After swallowing he resumed his meditating pose, not moving for 10 seconds until he brought his fists forward and ignited them with blue fire.

"Are THOSE the flames you meant?" The silver-haired woman next to him asked again, he nodded in response.

"New flames aren't THAT easy to get but I just already had this one. I've used them before but more like a 'spur of the moment' thing so I didn't really know how to actually use the flame." Mirajane giggled, that sounded just like her pink-haired dragon slayer.

"Alright, I think it's about time for us to leave!" Natsu shouted as he got up, he got disappointed looks from all around him but he shrugged them off.

"If you don't follow quickly, you'll die." At those words the mages quickly rushed to follow him.

As they arrived at the giant castle-like construction the same dragon that they had met earlier guided them towards the hall of eternal flames. The guild members were found in spectator seats, joined with many dragons behind them. They weren't quite comfortable with being surrounded by this many dragons but they would have to put up with it for now. In the middle of the room was a giant open place where Natsu was, before him stood 4 pedestals. One in the middle and three surrounding it in a circle. Before him stood the dragon that was supposedly the king's advisor.

"Please, ignite the central pedastal with your flame of rebuke." Natsu closed the distance between him and the dragon until he passed him and headed for the center of the circle. Igniting both his hands with the golden flame, he brought them together and dropped it onto the pedestal. Right as the fire landed on it a pillar of golden flames followed quickly. In the air a fiery golden dragon formed that rushed towards Natsu and disappeared into his mating mark, which turned golden after the entirety of the dragon had been absorbed. The dragon crowd cheered happily at the sight, the mages didn't know what had just happened though.

"You have happily recieved the flame's blessing! Now we can move on to today's trial." The intructor spoke. Natsu nodded with a smile on his face, he showed the mages his thumbs up as he turned around to face one of the 3 outer pedestals. He did brought his crimson flames together and put it on the first pedestal.

"You will start the first trial with the crimson flame. The previous king refused to use anything but the crimson flame, all of his pride was in it. It is by far the most destructive of all flames." The dragon counselor explained the lore of the flame that Natsu had chosen for his first trial. The massive wall that was at the end of the giant arena burned away to reveal the arena he would fight off his trial. It was a simple battling arena for as far as he could tell.

"Step forward, Son of Igneel." The dragon behind him ordered. Natsu walked to the huge arena with many cheers from the dragon spectators. Silence followed as soon as he made it to the center of the arena, not long before he was surrounded by 4 dragons.

"You will be forced to use only the chosen flame in combat. Begin!" Was yelled before the dragons charged at Natsu, who swiftly dodged by ascending into the air. He directed his landing onto one of the dragon's head with a kick. Natsu backflipped away from the dragon onto the ground as the other 3 weren't simply watching him, they were coming at him with their tails, teeth and claws. Natsu assumed his battle form with the crimson flame, after he did so he easily flame dashed behind his attackers to pick their tails up and swung them to the side. Mages of Fairy Tail looked astonished at Natsu's physical strength.

"Is that really Natsu? No way in hell that's the same boy that left with Mirajane a couple years ago." Cana gasped out. Mirajane giggled at the sight of all her guild mates shocked to this extent, though she couldn't judge them. After tossing the 3 to the side he went for the lone one that was coming at him, swiftly coming behind him and grabbing a hold of his wings. The wings were pulled back and the dragon started roaring in pain. Natsu followed up with slamming the dragon's head down with both his fists. There was the first dragon knocked out, the other 3 weren't giving up on the fight though. Natsu turned his head to reveal his scary glare to the dragons. He lifted off and rushed at the left one but got intercepted by the tail of the right dragon. Natsu crashed into the ground and quickly found a talon crushing his chest. He quickly vanished and materliazed a bit further, gasping for air and clenching his chest.

"C'mon, Natsu. Don't let these guys get the best of you!" Mirajane shouted from her stand. Natsu turned to see her and the rest of the mages grin at him. It reminded him of the fact his family was watching, he wouldn't be disappointing them by showing himself weak. Natsu's aura intensified tenfold, the dragons could feel his heat surge. Natsu vanished, but the pressure of his magical energy was still there. The first dragon quickly fell to the ground and clenched his stomach, then got smashed into the ground. Wondering what happened, the second dragon quickly took an uppercut to the jaw without seeing what from, then got slammed into the wall. The final dragon recieved many, many blows that no one could have seen dealt. Eventually he just collapsed and Natsu reappeared. The crowd cheered at the show of superiority and power.

"You have done well, the first stage of the first trial is over. The second stage will commence now." An extremely tough-looking, hard-scaled dragon walked in front of Natsu.

"Show us your most powerful spell using the crimson flame." The advisor ordered. Natsu turned questioning to the dragon that spoke.

"You sure he can take it?" The dragon laughed but then nodded, still smiling. Natsu shrugged and prepared for his best move.

"Crimson Lotus: Crimson vortex of eternal damnation!" Natsu spoke the words loud and clear as both his arms were stretched towards the dragon, who was bracing for the impact. The crowd watched closely to see what the spell would bring forth. Natsu turned and walked away with a smile on his face.

"Uhm, Natsu Dragneel? You were supposed to ..." Then the dragon saw a slight bit of surprise in the dragon slayer's eyes.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Natsu grinned and brought his hand to the back of his head. He snapped his fingers as the dragon behind him now stood on his magic circle. Fiery chains brought the dragon to a kneeling position(whatever that would be for dragons but something similar, I'm sure you guys can figure it out for yourselves) The outer edges of the circle lit up as the chains connected with it, sending crimson flames over the chains and the magic circle. From the ground covered with the circle now intense flames arose, covering the dragon's entire body. After seconds filled with roars of agonizing pain the flames subsided, the chains vaporized and the magic circle faded away, leaving the dragon in an extremely weak state. The crowd of dragons looked amazed at the result, never has the dragon that was now before them shown in such a weak state. He was the most defensive powerhouse they had. Natsu grinned at the taskmaster.

"Very well, you have passed the second stage of the first trial. You are now to show your bond with the flame." Natsu looked questioning at the dragon as he gave an order to some nearby dragons. A shrine of some sort was brought before Natsu.

"Place the flame there, young prince." The dragon pointed at the shrine, Natsu shrugged and did as he was told. The shrine began to show off some powerful magical prowess as it shook the ground slightly, Natsu watched as the flame began to morph into a life-size dragon.

"This form resembles the flame's spirit. You are to bond with it." The wise dragon explained. Natsu sat down in front of the crimson dragon flame with his legs crossed, supporting his head with his hand. He stared at the fiery dragon for a bit until he closed his eyes, straightened his back and brought his hands to his knees. The dragon had a friendly look as he diverted it at Natsu. The following minutes were a pain as the suspense was killing almost everyone. Many heads were leaning over the rock boundaries of the spectator's area. After a long wait the dragon closed his eyes and brought his head down in the way of bowing. Loud cheers awoke from the dragon crowd as Natsu had succeeded the first trial.

"You have done well, son of Igneel. Now you may rest for the next day." The dragon intructor turned to walk away as Mirajane ran up to him and pinned him to the ground.

"You were amazing!" Mirajane cried on his chest, she hugged him tightly.

"Mira, calm down. You might murder me." Natsu cringed the words as Mirajane was nearly suffocating him.

"I don't think after that you'll die to a mere hug." She smiled up to her mate, he grinned back at her. She pulled him up and they walked back to their quarters with their hands intertwined and the guild right behind them, watching the couple go. Some faces were filled with disgust, others with excitement and more with envy.

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Hiya everybody! Sorry for the late one. Yesterday I didn't quite feel up to writing a fight :( + Dark Souls 2 got released, can you judge me? :D Anyways here's what I made up I had a lot of trouble figuring out what to do for the trials so I hope you all like what I made of it, see you next time with the lightning flame!


	23. Chapter 23

Sup, I've decided to use the AN of this chapter for sumthin'. I believe we all know that there are stories out there that deserve more attention than they are getting, stories that are completely unsupported or underrated. If I see one they usually get my favorite and follow much easier than other stories. So here are a couple stories that have few reviews and 10- followers that I think deserve better, even though they might be recently published.

for 1: Yosei0280's 'Fire X Fire' Judging from my conversations with her she's a really cool and creative girl that's really fun to be around, the story is a NatsuXOC story. I get that it's personal preference but if you like NatsuXOC then I'm just pointing this out to you. The plot has yet to unfold but I'm sure she's working her hardest to make the content as good as possible.

second: ' 'Others like me' a NatsuXOC story as well (is this 'ship' just underrated or what?) A very recent story. OC is the water dragon slayer and immediatly from the first chapter it's already getting hinted between them, though it's nothing like a crush (I hate romance starting with merely a 'crush' that's not falling in love if y'ask me) But I can appreciate straight-forwardness :).

Anyways, so I hope these stories will get at least SOME attention from you guys. I'll keep looking for underrated stories as I go, though I don't exactly read NaZa or NaLi and I hate NaLu as I also don't read anything that isn't about Natsu :). Ok now that that's finally over, let's get on with today's chapter.

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The quarters they were sleeping in was the coolest place in the entire land of fire, it was a huge room that had beds for everybody. The beds were still surrounded by curtains and such vision-obscuring objects so you couldn't see everybody from where you'd sleep. The beds of the Fairy Tail mages were located at the outer walls to the left and right of the room while the king's bed was positioned opposite from the large entrance, obviously this bed belonged to the supposedly future king of the fire dragons joined by his queen. Speaking of which, Mirajane slowly woke up from the absence of something. She barely opened her eyes and let her hands search for her dragon slayer but to no avail. When she was completely awake she sat up straight and looked around the room for him, but he wasn't there. The take over mage stood up from the bed and walked to the exit of the room, when she wanted to leave she could feel the heat scorching her skin already. As Mirajane got an idea, she turned into her dragon take over figuring that it would allow her to resist the immense heat from outside.

After a while of aimlessly walking around she heard whispers and chattering, following the sound of these she ended up attending a meeting with Natsu and many other dragons. From what she understood they were talking about his amazing progression and were already preparing him for his duties, she chuckled with the thought of a serious Natsu. He didn't want to responsibility of being a wizard saint, could he really handle royalty? But then she saw the serious expression on his face and figured this land would be in some fine pair of hands. She slowly walked back to her room and awaited the return of her mate. She was ready to fall asleep until Natsu finally filled the empty space in the bed, she could see the worried look on his face through the split of her eyes.

"Don't worry, this land will be in great hands. You're determined, things will always go your way when you are." Mirajane whispered while snuggling up to him, much to Natsu's surprise.

"Did I wake you?" He asked as he brought his arm around his waist, she shook her head in his chest.

"I saw the meeting thingy you were having, though I didn't catch it all. But I heard you were doing great and that's all that matters, is it not?" She looked up in the Onyx eyes of the pink-haired male, he smiled happily back at her.

"You are amazing with words, you always know what to say." She chuckled at his words.

"With a knucklehead like you? I think anybody would have to adapt that ability." Natsu pouted as he looked away from her, giving her more pleasure in the teasing. Soon the both of them were in a deep sleep until the morning dawned. The 2 mages in the king sized bed were still drowsy from the lack of sleep as they were awoken by the other guild mages. Natsu quickly shook it off and regained his energetic spirit, grinning all the way. When they arrived at the same place they were at yesterday the guild went up to spectate the trials as Natsu was found before the pedestals with the taskmaster dragon behind him.

"You can now select the flame you will bond with on your second trial and light the second pedestal with it." Natsu slowly walked over to the second pedestal, slowly igniting his fists with the lightning flame. Bringing his hands together and dropping it in the pedestal, the dragon spoke up.

"The lightning flame, a flame created by the properties of lightning surging throughout the flame. This flame can give the caster the highest speed advantage out of all of them and has a huge destructive force that is only second to the crimson flame." As the flame surrounded the entire pedestal in the form of a pillar the wall that covered the arena burned away with that same flame.

"It will be the exact same process as the day before, only you will be using the lightning flame from now on." Natsu nodded while staring at the arena as he walked forward. As again 4 dragons came out, surrounding Natsu who stood in the center of the arena, Natsu gained his lightning flame battle form. Unlike the lightning flame around his hand, when it was his body that was subjected to the flame the lightning wasn't just randomly surging throughout the flame. The lightning was forming additions to his fiery body. Blades, spikes, bolts all of these made out of lightning formed on his legs, torso, head, shoudlers, arms. The crowd cheered at the excitement to see the form that was greatly presented to them in action.

Natsu immediatly noticed the difference in speed that came with the form as he flashed up, high above ground. He started off with the lightning flame roar to round things up quickly, as one of the dragons watched the roar come at him he launched his personal roar, only to be quickly obliterated by the stream of fire and lightning coming at him. All he could do was protect him with his wings and brace for the impact, but it wasn't enough to keep him from instantly getting knocked out. The crowd cheered at the show of extreme power, though the roar had brought some fatigue upon Natsu.

The remaining dragons spread their wings to rise up and catch the dragon slayer. Natsu quickly retalliated swinging his leg around to sweep the first dragon's head away while slamming down on another head with both of his fists. This did leave his back open for the third dragon to catch him between his jaws. Natsu was trying not to let the dragon close his mouth until a sadistic grin graces his face. He let go of the dragon's jaws as he was simply devoured. The crowd stared in shock at what just happened and questions the dragon slayer's well-being. The dragon looked in pain as he quickly dropped to the ground and lost consciousness, much to the crowd's surprise. The 2 remaining dragons brought their faces down to look at him. 2 streams exited both of his nostrils and knocked the dragons to the side with huge force as they merged to form Natsu's body in mid-air. Cheers for his comeback could be heard echoing throughout the giant room.

Natsu divided his body again so he could slam the two dragons together so he could merge again and swiftly take care of the both of them in one, simple blow. Afer the battle the hyper defensive dragon stood before him again. Natsu looked back at the dragon by the pedestals who nodded at him.

"Seems like you're patched up, sorry to have you go through this sorta stuff." Natsu grinned at the dragon who looked down at the dragon slayer, bringing out his own smile. Natsu jumped up in the air to match the altitude of the dragon's chest, this one braced for whatever was to come. Natsu moved himself horizontally with his head pointing towards the dragon while movong in a slow circular motion.

"Lightning Lotus: Phoenix blade!" Natsu yelled as he took off with a fiery explosion before letting the lightning charge forward throughout his body. As the lightning stream pierced the dragon's body at high speed Natsu returned his body behind the dragon, who fell down to the ground. The power that the dragon slayer showed off kept amazing everybody around him. The intructive dragon walked over to him, praising him for his performance.

"You have done well passing the previous stages, now it's time to see if the lightning flame accepts you." Natsu nodded as he watched the shrine being dragged into the room. It wasn't long before Natsu faced a dragon shaped lightning flame that had a joyous look in his eyes. Natsu felt at ease with the dragon before him as he sat down cross-legged. The dragon closed his own eyes and smiled. Everybody suspected the flame had already taken a liking to the dragon slayer by the look of how they seemed comfortable, which was proven right later on when the dragon made the first move in a while. Loud cheers echoed throughout the entire palace as the dragon bowed his head to the dragon slayer. The dragon vanished as Natsu stood up and turned around. The group of mages had made it's way down and awaited their permission to leave, they were going to the lava pool again. Mirajane rushed to his side and smiled at him.

"What, no hug this time?" Natsu questioned the lady.

"Oh, you don't care about your personal well-being anymore?" Mirajane looked up at him playfully.

"I won't die from a hug, right?" The male dragon slayer smiled while raising his shoulders.

"Want to put that to the test?" The take over mage demonically smiled at him.

"Eh ... I wouldn't exactly go that far." Natsu nervously brought out as sweat started to drop from his head, but he was already pinned to the ground. The group behind them was either chuckling or just looking away from the scene.

"Time for some lava pool relaxation" Natsu shouted as he raised his fist, quickly followed by the rest of the guild.

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Alright! We got the lightning flame down, next chapter will be the final trial but not the end of the land of the fire dragons yet! Hope none of you will hate on the stories that I mentioned, I hope to see y'all next time!


	24. Chapter 24

Alright, I'm back! I hope nobody I mentioned in the previous chapter got any hate because of me, but i trust they haven't :) If you haven't noticed already I'm officially downgrading my upload time from daily to once every 2 days. I'm sure you guys won't mind that much, well at least you guys won't judge me for it :) I need some time too! I don't think you should complain as these are mostly 2K words chapters. For as far as I know daily uploaders only do like 500 words a chapter or something. Oh well, enough about that. Les get dis goin'!

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Natsu and the other guild members were found at the usual places they'd be at this time. Natsu was in the spotlight as everybody cheered him on, many dragons and his feelow guild mates were the ones cheering for him. Next to him was the wise old dragon that would always tell him what to do, but the process was already well-known to the dragon slayer.

As the final pedestal was lit with the blue flame the arena was revealed again by that same flame.

"The blue flame, the most peculiar of all hence it has the main property of fire opposite of all the other flames. The cold flame has an unknown origin up to this very day. We suspect it was just created by an ice dragon and a fire dragon that lived as one in a faraway place, but such is only a hypothesis."

Natsu was slightly nervous as the blue flame was his newest flame, he had no real combat experience with it whatsoever. Again, the 4 dragon entered the arena and prepared to face him. Nasu ignited his fists with the flame he was bound to for this trial, much to everybody's surprise.

"Why isn't he just making that flame his body, like with all the others?" Lucy whispered for all the mages to hear.

"Remember how he's only just recently got that flame? He hasn't been in a fight with it yet, I guess he just can't do it as of right now." Gray reasoned, many confirmed the thought with nods. Natsu awaited one of the dragons to make a first move, which came rather quickly. A claw slammed down where he was before he swiftly stepped to the left. He slammed his ignited hands together on the two sides of the dragon's arm, freezing it to the ground. Natsu rushed away as he watched the dragon melt the ice with his fire breath.

Other dragons started making their moves, a tail sweeped Natsu's way. The pink-haired fire mage quickly jumped up and touched the tail with his ignited hand as it passed, just to make that dragon waste a bit of his time removing the ice. As he landed he straightened his back for a claw had barely missed him, Natsu rushed up this very claw and kicked the dragon's head with a cold roundhouse kick. The dragon's head was engulfed with ice and it's mouth wasn't opened, Natsu noticed this and quickly started freezing multiple parts of it's body, until he was completely engulfed with ice. One of the dragons charged for Natsu as another was freeing his ally from the ice prison.

The dragon charged with his mouth wide open, trying to catch Natsu with it. Several attempts to do so failed miserably as Natsu swiftly, but not always easily, dodged every bite the dragon threw at him. As soon as the dragon pulled back Natsu rushed on top of it's mouth and froze it's head, he then slid down on his back while leaving a trail of ice behind him. He realized that he needed to freeze the head if he wanted to really disable one of them, at least for as long as there was no ally to help them out.

Natsu slid up from the dragons tail and held himself up on the edge of the arena, looking down on the 2 remaining dragons, of which one was almost finished with getting the other out of it's ice prison. Then they all heard something nobody expected, the ground was trembling because of it. Many dragon eyes widened in shock and horror at the sound of the roar, as they knew it all too well.

"Acnologia ..." The elder whispered, Natsu still had heard it and questioned the name. It was then the other side of the room broke up to reveal a gigantic black dragon with blue marks covering it's body. The entire room was in chaos as dragons roared screams of fear. Natsu immediatly turned to the elder dragon to question what was happening.

"Acnologia, the draong king. He terrorrizes all of the dragon lands." The elder one quickly spoke the words for Natsu to hear as he shivered. Natsu had a determined look on his face as his stared at the black dragon.

"I smelled Igneel around here, where is he? I have a score to settle with him." Acnologia spoke with his dark and menacing voice. He lowered his head closer to Natsu as he recieved the scent.

"Why is there a human smelling like Igneel? Don't tell me your that flame brain's kid." Natsu wanted to blow up right there and then, until he noticed he couldn't. What was it that stopped him from igniting his own flames? He looked down to see his mark had turned blue, he figured the trials had bound him to the pure usage of the blue flame and none other. He quickly took action by sending a fist covered in cold flames to the black dragon's face, which merely budged it.

"Oh, such a cute temper. Just like ash-for-breath." Natsu was seriously getting pisssed off at the names thrown at his father, he had to endure those very same names from Gray but it was not him that they were thrown at right now. He looked up again to see Acnologia's claw sweep him away. As Natsu soared through the air his fellow guild members quickly jumped down and prepared for battle, though time seemed to have stopped for the dragon slayer. He was locked in mid-air as everybody was frozen in their position. He was then dragged into the same void where he would always find his father.

"Natsu, Acnologia is someone you cannot beat. I can't beat him myself!" Igneel quickly roared at him.

"So you're gonna let him kill everybody and everything here?!" Natsu replied with a raised voice, silencing his foster parent. The dragon looked down, he knew he couldn't just sit there and do nothing about all this. Acnologia would just ruin the entire land for the fun of it, he knew that. As he opened his eyes and looked at the determined Natsu, he sighed.

"Fine, I want you to see how much you can drag him down with ice. When I tell you to, you get me out and we'll finish it together." Natsu raised his head again.

"But I can't use the blue flame properly yet, it has no freezing effect on him just now either!" Natsu countered Igneel's strategy.

"Then why don't you just have a nice chat with it?" Igneel turned to the flame illuminating the both of them as it turned blue.

"Igneel, you dragged me out again? What do you need this time, your son't here too I see." Natsu walked over to the flame as he sat down in front of it.

"Are you the blue flame?" Natsu asked, still questioning what was going on.

"You could say that, I am the spirit that resides in the flame known as the blue one." The fire answered.

"I need your strength to defend the land of the fire dragons against the black dragon." Natsu seriously spoke his request.

"Hm. You've got spirit, I've seen that much from your battle already. I'll lend you my full strength only for this battle, we will see afterwards." The flame spoke. Igneel nodded and Natsu was brought back to his soaring body, as everything turned mobile he regained his composure. He saw the guild mages in front of him lined up with their magic active.

"You guys can't do anything against him, he's a dragon remember?" They all turned to hear what Natsu had to say.

"Does that mean you and me will have to do this?" Gajeel asked aloud.

"I think you'll only end up in my, leave with the others." Natsu ordered him. The iron dragon slayer nodded as all the mages made their way to safety with the dragons.

"So you really do think you can take me? That's funny, I'll give you a medal for courage and if you give me a challenge I'll give you a beating." Acnologia laughed at the boy. Natsu's body surged with power as the blue mark beneath his neck lit up. His body was replaced by blue flames. The fire dragon slayer collected flames from the air as his size increased to match a titan's. Acnologia smirked at the performance.

"So you do have something in you, huh? Let's make this quick though, I've got food waiting for me." Acnologia smirked at the fiery, cold titan charging at him. Natsu's fist missed the dragon's face, his arm was bitten by his opponent. He seperated his arm from his body and turned it to slam down onto the dragon's back while his other arm punched it's head before it could roar.

"Interesting skills you got, boy." The black dragon stood up again. Natsu still had no idea what the dragon's element was but he could only assume it was something dark. He got his answer as a dragon's roar came at him, it was a dark one but it wasn't your regular dark. It was a much more advanced form of such. The roar was evaded by removing the flames it would collide with.

"You like that apocalyptic roar?" Acnologia smirked as he watched Natsu's titan body regain the flames he had removed.

'Apocalypse? Is that even an element?' Natsu thought in a surprised manner. He shook the thought off and quickly prepared to charge at his opponent again, until he recieved the dragon's tail to his head. He was thrown aside as the dragon charged at him again, slashing Natsu's body with his claws and biting his shoulder. The blue titan slammed his free elbow down in the enemy's neck, released his shoulder from the bite. He punched in the dragon's stomach with the other arm after that. After Acnologia dropped to the ground he slammed his collective fist into the dragon's head.

Acnologia was now very much bruised and seemed in pain as he tried to stumble up to his feet. Natsu kneeled down and clenched his shoulder, the bite he had recieved in that location seemed close to fatal. Not long after that, he recieved the dragon's head in his chest. As Natsu was thrown back he let the flames roam over dragon's body, freezing whatever he could manage to cover in ice.

"Natsu, now's the time!" Igneel called out in his mind. As the flames left Natsu's body to roam over Acnologia's, his normal body flew towards the wall. A huge dust cloud appeared where he had made contact. As acnologia tried to fight the flames a huge fire stream came out of the dust cloud. Acnologia looked at what came out of the dust cloud after taking the hit head on, he was having serious trouble keeping up with this kid. What the dust cloud revealed, brought a smirk to his face.

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How'd y'all like Acnologia crashing the party? People said I should not make it such a cakewalk or maybe make him fail. I don't like making him fail because that'd mean I'd have to keep this arc in mind for future chapters. You might've noticed already, I'm really bad at keeping things from the past in mind. Must be because I have completely no plan for this story whatsoever. Ah well, I liked the chapter and I hope you guys do too. See y'all, I'm out!


	25. Chapter 25

It seems I surprised many with last chapter's twist, I didn't want to make it too predictable :) As always I find spending a huge time on a time-consuming fight a pain but I managed to do it anyways, I don't know if it's as good as y'all hoped it to be. Also a small shoutout to Anabelle Blakes' story "Dragon's Heart" Great NatsuXOC story that doesn't exactly need additional support but she's still got less than me(don't quite understand that). I actually wonder to how much people my shoutous are new information. Anyways I hope this one'll be any good as well and that you guys don't hope I rushed it too much.

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Acnologia smirked at the sight of Igneel's body before him, assuming it was the actual king of the fire dragons.

"I smelled you on that boy, though I didn't smell you coming near here. Where's that kid, anyways?" Natsu looked at the black dragon, half of it's body was covered in ice. His glare returned to the white eyes of his enemy as he bared his teeth with a smirk. Acnologia took a questioning look and raised his eyebrow.

"The kid's who you're talking to." Acnologia's interest was peaked as his heck was swifly impaled by the fire dragon's teeth. The dragon roared in pain until he let out a lot of his magic energy. Natsu backed off to see what was going to happen. A black aura meterialized around the dragon's scales. Acnologia looked back up at Natsu, whispering the following words:

"Apocalyptic Warrior: darkness of protection." With that, the dark aura merged with his scales to form a offensive and strong armor-like protection around his body. It had many wide scales turned outwards, long horns, a sharp beak and a tail like a battleaxe.

"I figured he'd bring that out." Igneel's voice echoed through Natsu's mind. "Make sure you hit his stomach or the inside of his tail, those places have no scales and in this case no armor." Igneel gave the boy the armor's weak spots while Acnologia smirked as his wounds seemed to have no longer any effect on him.

"Go ahead, boy. Make a move, let's see what happens." Natsu looked carefully at the dragon's body, it was true that where there were previously no scales, there was now no armor.

"Igneel, can I still use my own magic?" Natsu wondered about the magic capabilities of his father's body as he has only used it's physical properties.

"Very much so, though they will be much more powerful as my personal power is added to them as well. Also keep in mind that the body you're using right now is no longer bound to the pure usage of the blue flame." Igneel replied to his question as Natsu thought out his course of actions. Natsu sat up and stretched his arms towards the dragon.

"Crimson Lotus: Crimson Vortex of Eternal Damnation!" As once Natsu showed the spell, the same occurred here. The fiery chains brought Acnologia down and held him tight. The dragon's body spent a little while inside a fiery vortex of raw incineration. After the chains got released and the slightly charred body of the dragon raised to roar, Natsu prepared his next spell in the middle of his opponent's chest that was now facing him.

"Lightning Lotus: Phoenix Blade!" Natsu flowed in a horizontal circular motion with fire and lightning streaming out of his body. He blasted off with a fiery explosion and charged through his enemy with his lightning-charged body. When Acnologia was staggered and Natsu stood behind him, he turned his head to whisper the final spell.

"Blue Lotus: Curse of the Frozen Blades." Natsu whispered the words as his magic circle appeared underneath as blue fire rose from it and covered the dragon's body. At many spots ther fire created ice blades which pierced the dragon's body, except the armored spots on which the blades were shattered. When the ice pierced, it would disappate again in the form of blue flames. Acnologia took a questioning look, those blades could've done much more than they had. He wondered for a bit until a magic circle appeared on his chest as blue fire surged out of the wounds those ice blades had caused. When the pain was gone for the most part, Acnologia realised that Natsu could do that as much as his magic power allowed him to.

"I'll be kind and not use magic myself, I see you're pretty worn out. Let's see who beats who in a physical fight." Acnologia grinned at the tired form of the fire dragon before him, Natsu was completely unable to cast another spell. The black dragon flew up, crashing through the ceiling after noticing he was being followed. The circling ascension of the 2 dragons did not go unnoticed as they crashed through the top of the buiding, leaving their battle completely exposed to the view of the dragons and mages outside.

"I-Is ... Is that King Igneel?!" The elder dragon spoke. Mirajane, who was inside some protective runes with the rest of the guild to keep themselves from being incinerated, explained that it was Natsu and not Igneel.

"I see, he might have a chance to drive Acnologia away then. Let us all hope for the best." Many of them looked at the battle, giving all of their faith to Natsu. As the dragons were now in their mid-air battle, it would be completely physical except for the few roars that required almost no magic for an actual dragon.

Acnologia had grown tired of letting the boy make the first move as he charged ahead with his horns first forward. Natsu used his gigantic tail to grab one of the horns and redirect his charge upward before it could hit him, so his claws would have easy access to the dragons unprotected areas. The black dragon's tail almost cut Natsu in half to interrupt his attempt at doing so. Natsu grabbed a hold of the tail and threw Acnologia downwards, following it up with a crimson fire roar. Acnologia crossed his spiky arms and simply deflected the blast with ease. When the fire of the roar disappated Natsu appeared through it at an extremely close distance, surprising the black dragon as he took a straight hit to the face. Such a punch wouldn't do much damage to protected areas but it would throw his enemy off balance, Natsu followed it up by spinning around and making his tail hit his head with full force to the other direction.

As his head was out of the way, Natsu brought both of his claws down in a straight line to strike the dragon's torso. After his chest was left bleeding, the dragon bit one of his opponent's arms and sweeped his tail in the direction of Natsu's neck. Natsu roared at the dragon's head to free his arm and his own tail had grabbed Acnologia by the neck to avoid his attack. As he had a good hold on his enemy's body, Natsu stretched it out to the point where it hurt, with the black dragon's head wrapped in his tail to the left and his tail grabbed tightly by his claw to his right. When he released his head and sweeped the tail to the right, Natsu slammed down his collective fist down on the unprotected chest of the black dragon. Acnologia crashed into the meteorite stone. When Natsu looked down, he saw the black body disappear with a flash and reappear before him.

"That was fun, you're pretty strong. You're rather creative with your attacks, the versatility that comes with the addition of the tail of a dragon's body definitely suits you. I'll definitely look forward to a battle with you where I'll have to go full-out." Acnologia smirked at the last words as he disappeared, engulfed with a black aura. When the crowd that was watching from a different mountain saw the black dragon disappear they all screamed their lungs out and rushed towards the dragon that was Natsu. After they had all assembled in the area where the fight started, Natsu was praised by the elder.

"You have fended off the most powerful dragon for our safety, we owe you a great deal, son of Igneel." The fire mage in front of him scratched the back of his words and raised his free hand.

"It's nothing you should worry about, I'd do it for any of my nakama." Natsu deflected the praise.

"In our eyes, you have very much earned the title of our king. But we only need the blue flame's approval for that." Natsu nodded, and before long he stood in front of a dragon-shaped blue fire. The dragon seemed to have an icy glare pointed at Natsu, who was in a meditating position before it. After a short amount of time the dragon closed in on Natsu and brought the nails of his index and middle finger to touch Natsu's forehead and the left of his chest. A blue light radiated from the connecting spots as the dragon also closed his eyes. The group looked at the mysterious show as they hadn't seen any of the other flames do this. When they saw the dragon smile and open his eyes to back away, Natsu also opened his eyes and stood up to a now bowing dragon. Not soon after that the title 'King of the fire dragons' was bestowed on Natsu, recieving the respect of every single fire dragon present. Royalty wasn't like in the human world though. He was respected for his strength and compassion, not because he was born like he was. He wasn't treated much different as anyone else, only with more respect.

"Yosh, I believe we can leave then." Gray spoke up after the ceremony that gave Natsu his title.

"Not yet, tomorrow is still an event for-" The elder tried to explain but Natsu raised his hand.

"I don't want them to know just yet." He spoke with the most innocent of smiles. The elder dragon nodded.

"Understood, my lord." And with that, the mages left for their quarters. Nobody acted much differently towards Natsu, only that he was sometimes jokingly called by new nicknames that came with his new title. The night was spent in the same way as many, the only difference was that many of their minds were filled with anxiety for the next day.

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So well ... that just happened. Natsu told me he didn't want all of you to know what happened next chapter just yet, so look forward to that! :) If any of you want to talk to me feel free to PM me, I say this once again because I sometimes get lonely at night :C And night time is the time I spent mostly conscious.


	26. Chapter 26

Sup y'all! At this point my story has been out for an entire month now, I just wanted to thank you all again for the amazing support I got. I literally started writing this story with 2 thought: 'NaMi' and 'Frequent updates' that is all. This story has grown to something I could never have imagined, and it would never have grown as much as it did without all of you. You guys made me write more of this story, as much of a braindead and non-existant plot it may have. At least I didn't plan the plot, idk if I should count it as an actual plot. But that's what I wanted you all to know, now here ya go with the next chaptah!

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"Won't you tell me, Natsu?" Mirajane pulled out some puppy eyes while asking the question to the dragon slayer next to her in bed. Natsu grinned and turned to face her.

"If there's anyone I want to surprise tomorrow, it's you." Natsu playfully brought his index finger to touch Mirajane's nose. She pouted because she was unable to get any answers from her mate, which was unusual. Natsu grinned at the sight as he closed his eyes. Mirajane quickly followed the gesture and got some sleep.

"It's time ..." a whisper and a warm breath woke her up from her slumber. She turned her head to look up to Natsu's warm smile. She smiled back until she sat up straight and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Much to her surprise Natsu was already dressed.

"How long have you been up?" Mirajane threw her curiosity at him when she noticed the fact.

"Long enough to prepare." Natsu smiled as he spoke the words.

"Prepare for what?" The silver haired woman tried again, but to no avail.

"You'll see." The fire mage turned around and slowly walked away from her, waking all the others up. When everybody followed Natsu to the same hall where all of the trials had found place, they were happily greeted by multiple dragons that they just passed by. They started to step up the stairs to move to the spectator's seats until they were stopped by Natsu.

"That won't be necessary for today." He grinned at the quetioning looks of the mages as he motioned them to follow him to the center of the room. The elder dragon and 2 others were waiting for them, the room was now without the 4 pedestals that resembles the trials but there was a much more common feel to it. It was decorated and seemed to have an entirely different purpose than before.

"So can we finally know what's gonna happen today?" Gray yelled out, filled with the same anxiety as all of them were, the elder spoke up.

"If our dragon king has a mate, then isn't it only natural that she'd become our dragon queen?" Natsu and the dragons smiled when the explenation came, as all the mages gave Mirajane a questioning look. Mirajane was dumbfound as she pointed at herself while looking at Natsu with a look that held more shock and surprise he'd ever seen. He smiled as he nodded at her.

"Royal mating is different from regular mating, your mating mark will prove that." The dragon explained, Natsu turned to his still confused lover.

"Take it as dragon marriage." He smiled at her and the group. Mirajane stood next to Natsu in front of the dragons. She nodded at him with a smile as they both returned their glance to the old dragon in front of them.

"The dragon king will be taking care of our well-being. Mirajane Strauss, do you think you can ease that burden for him? Can you take care of the king when he is in no state to do so himself?" The dragon asked her with a serious tone. Mirajane quickly nodded as she spoke up.

"Natsu has always been able to rely on me when it was necessary, I don't plan on changing that." The 2 dragons to the side stepped forward and handed each of them a meteorite rock that had weird runes carved on it.

"Let your magic energy flow through it." The dragon instructed them, and so they did. After the runes on the stone lit up it was set ablaze. Mirajane was surprised at first but calmed down when she saw the flames did not hurt her. When she felt a hand rub her arm she turned to see Natsu gesture her to give him the rock, when she did he sucked in the fire. The entire group of mages wondered what would follow. The dragon on Natsu's chest had it's eyes light up. It started to grow slightly and wrap it's tail around Natsu's neck, the tail budged off to Natsu's right shoulder while it's head moved to his left shoulder. On the back of the dragon formed an intense flame symbol that radiated a bright crimson and a much more concentrated and intense form of his body heat, which was pretty frickin' hot in Natsu's case.

When the dragons smiled at the event Mirajane knew it was right, they all gestured her to do the same. She took Natsu's fire and felt that it was harmless, just like hers. She then tried to follow Natsu's example and sucked the flame in between her lips. The same happened to her mark as had happened with Natsu's.

"The two of you now resemble the royalty in the land of the fire draogns. Natsu Dragneel, king of the fire dragons, and Mirajane Strauss, queen of the fire dragons." After the dragon spoke that Mirajane threw herself in his arms and emerged into a lip-lock with the dragon slayer. When they broke their kiss they looked around to see all of the surrounding dragons bowing to them, it caught them off guard.

"Whenever such is needed, we will call upon you. Until then, you are free to leave and continue living the life you have in the human world." The elder turned his head up and explained. Natsu turned to the other mages and grinned.

"Who's up for a bit of relaxation until we leave?!" The group cheered as they prepared for the hot spring-like experience. When they were ready to leave the mages grouped up before the same gate that had allowed them access to this fiery land. They waved all of the dragons goodbye as they left for their own world. Nothing seemed to have happened during their absence, the city only had become very suspricious to why there wasn't so much ruckus from the usual loudy guild. When master Makarov had taken a newspaper and went through it, he realized what day it was and immediatly rushed off to the train station, claiming that he had to be at the guild master's meeting.

"I hope this won't make stuff more formal between us." Mirajane was holding Natsu's hand as they walked homewards.

"Formal? What's that?" Natsu playfully asked her, she giggled at the childish reply of her dragon slayer.

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Alright sorry for the REALLY short chapter, shortest I've ever uploaded. I just wanted to fit this in one chapter, as I usually want to. So with this my personal and self-made arc has ended, let me know if there's anyone you know that has done the same thing as I did. I don't read like 85% of the stories out there because of shipping reasons, so I'd like to know if I was extremely original with this (probably not, though). See y'all when I upload the next one!


	27. Chapter 27

I'm back again, next up is the oracion seis arc. This is my 2nd most hated arc, I despise Oracion Seis. But the 2nd arc is way worse because it's slightly about Lucy (I don't need any other reason to hate an arc). So with that I'll guess I'll get goin' naow, y'all just sit there and ... get yoselves sum' cookies. Seems reasonable :)

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When they arrived Natsu rushed to open the door and held it open for Mirajane, he stood as he was giving a real queen access to his house.

"I thought we weren't going to do any formalities?" She chuckled at the gesture of the fire mage.

"I wouldn't describe this as formal, but more as playful. No way in hell I'd do something like this seriously." He smiled while she entered the house. He followed her inside and closed the door behind him. Mirajane stood not far from the door as she dropped her bags and looked around her while sighing.

"Something wrong?" Natsu asked as he passed her on his way to the kitchen.

"I was just wondering how you managed to live here for so long without setting the place on fire." She smiled at him, he laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head when he returned from the kitchen.

"Actually, that happened quite often..." Natsu slowly countered her statement.

"Oh, so you had to rebuild this a lot?" Mirajane raised an eyebrow, she had been with him for so long and not even know this.

"Yeah, but it's been quite a while since I've done it. It mostly stopped after you helped me with magic control the first time." They both looked up and smiled at the memory of a tomboy Mirajane and an even more childish Natsu sitting in front of eachother, cross legged.

"Well I guess that's where you got those muscles from then." She playfully spoke while she poked his abs. He covered his abs with his hand when she backed off. Natsu grabbed her finger and dragged it was past him, pulling Mirajane closer in a very fast manner. She nearly tripped until she was caught by Natsu, in multiple ways. His body caught hers, his arms embraced her body, his lips caught hers. When she managed to break free, Mirajane playfullly smiled up to the dragon slayer.

"Dessert comes after dinner." She seductively whispered those words to his mouth. She backed away while touching the tip of his nose and made her way to the kitchen, swaying her hips as much as possible. The swaying motion was almost hypnotizing. Natsu was having a look at his souvenirs from many missions he had done with or without nakama. The memories were quickly replaced by the smell of delicious food filling his nose. He followed the scent until he reaed the kitchen, the pink hair was visible around the corner while the man was peeking at his dragon mate.

"Be patient now, it'll be done soon." The dragon slayer nearly squeaked, surprised by her detection skills. She turned her head for him to see her warm smile, easing his surprise. He made his way behind her and brought his arms around her waist as he laid his head down on her shoulder. Life like it was right there couldn't get any better, he had a caring woman cooking for him and supporting him when he needed it. That aside he's got the guild and all of his nakama.

"What're you thinking about?" The take over mage turned her head so she could barely see that Natsu had his eyes closed.

"How perfect this is." He spoke without opening his eyes. She returned her attention to the food.

"It can still get better, but you'll have to be patient." She could hear a small grumble from her left, it made her chuckle. When dinner was ready, much to Natsu's relief, the both of them thoroughly enjoyed the meal. But things got quite rowdy after that.

Natsu dragged her from her seat as soon as she put down her fork, she could swear that her feet weren't even touching the ground. She was thrown onto the bed and the dragon slayer quickly dived on top of her. Mirajane was attempting to process what had just happened but new information kept streaming in. How Natsu's saliva tasted, how his tongue pressed up against hers, how his fingers ran down her entire body, how his erect member was pressing up to her sex through his pants, how his other hand twirled her hair around it's fingers. Eventually Mirajane just dropped the thinking and acted on instinct, embracing Natsu's muscled body and fighting back with her own tongue.

"How does dessert get served?" Natsu brought out in between the gaps of air they had during their kiss.

"I'll leave that up to you." Mirajane replied, not wanting to think about anything. She knew Natsu had understood what she said, judging from the hand that was pulling down the straps of her dress. His skin rubbed hers while he slowly removed the clothing. The straps were down, but Natsu didn't continue. Instead he backed away to remove his own vest. Mirajane licked her lips as Natsu revealed his mascular chest completely, she lunged at him and pinned him down. Now Natsu was beneath her and had access to her back. His hands roamed around the soft skin and one pinched her butt. Mirajane moaned throughout the kiss from Natsu's mere touch.

Natsu continued to slowly strip Mirajane of her dress. When he spun them around so he was on top, the pink skin on Mirajane's breasts was revealed. As Natsu fondled them, Mirajane's moans grew deeper and filled with more sincere pleasure. Eventually Natsu pinched a nipple so that Mirajane squeaked, moving his lips to her other nipple and starting to treat it with his tongue and spit. She had her hands holding Natsu's hair tightly, pushing him further into her chest. One hand was fondling a breast while the other was moving up her dress to gain access to Mirajane's sex. When he got to feel her panties they were already soaked, but that didn't stop his touch from making Mirajane nearly cum right there and then.

Mirajane pushed him away, resisting the urge to give in to his pleasing actions. She was now again on top of him. She only gave him a teasing bite in the lips as she dragged her hands and chin over his chest in the direction of his erection. As she arrived she looked up with seductive eyes to the wide ones of the dragon slayer. She could feel it poking her, she wanted it inside of her. Slowly she brought her hands to lower his shorts, eventually his member stood up straight in front of her. She grinned at the dragon slayer, looking past the small pillar of meat in between them. He gulped, his eyes showed his anxiety for what they both knew what was going to happen. She slowly let her tongue roam around his member from top to bottom and back. When she reached the top again she stopped moving her head and let her tongue cover every inch there was to explore on the tip. The dragon slayer had already started moaning like crazy, clenching the sheets so he wouldn't take her and force his cock in her mouth.

Slowly she encased the tip of Natsu's meat in her mouth, she continued to let her tongue roam around it before she started moving. She grinned at the sight of a helpless Natsu, she was in complete control of him right now. When she teased him enough, Mirajane moved her head in a vertical motion over his member. She started out slow, but as she went on the bobbing of her head gained speed. He could feel her breasts being pressed against the inside of his legs every time she went down, he could feel the soft and wet inside of her mouth engulfing his erect member. Natsu was holding back as much as he could, he didn't want it to end so soon. Mirajane widened her mouth as she raised her head while letting her tongue slide up from Natsu's meat, connecting the two with a string of saliva.

Mirajane turned to the other end of the bed and prepared to leave it, but before she could do so she was pulled back by Natsu. He pulled her all the way up to the headboard. What he did next came close to ripping her dress from her body, but without ruining the dress. Before him now laid Mirajane with her black panties as her only piece of clothing, but that wouldn't last much longer. He let his tongue slide down from her neck to her collarbone, from then on down to her breasts. After giving her nipples a couple twists with his tongue he trailed kisses down from them across her stomach to his destination. He continued to kiss the inside of her legs as he gently removed the panties. Unlike Mirajane though, Natsu skipped the teasing and dove right between her legs. His tongue pressed up against every part of her wet sex, covering everything with his saliva. Mirajane as earlier pressed his head closer to her, filled with the pleasure he was delivering her. Natsu's arms made their way around her legs over her waist to her breasts to fondle these. The deep moans from the woman sounded like music to the fire mage's ears. He pinched both of her nipples simultaniously while thrusting his tongue forward one last time, she nearly screamed out in pleasure. He moved up from where he was and connected his lips with hers. When they seperated, a string of saliva stil connected their tongues. Mirajane then nodded at him, at that he lowered his hips and brought his meat inside of her. The tight cave encased the erect member of Natsu, sending jolts of pleasure through both of their bodies.

Natsu slowly started moving, bringing his manhood in and out of Mirajane's fleshy cave. Mirajane was biting her lips to stop herself from screaming. Natsu's lips were busied with the smooth skin of Mirajane's neck. The thrusting started to speed up, increasing the pleasure the both of them were recieving. Mirajane had let out a couple of screams as time progressed. Natsu was letting his hand roam over one of the legs that was wrapped around his waist. Both looked at eachother's faces and saw that they couldn't hold back much longer, they had been holding it back since the foreplay. Natsu sped up to his limit as both of the mages screamed out. Their liquids mixed inside of Mirajane and over Natsu's cock. The juice and seed was licked up by both of them as it dripped out of Mirajane's sex. They collapsed next to each other on the bed. They smiled at eachother until the noticed that the dragon around their shoulders had his eyes glowing.

"Natsu, what does that mean?" Mirajane asked, wondering if they had done something wrong. He laughed as he looked at the ceiling with his arms behind his head.

"It means we did a good job." She chuckled at the childish choice of words. Both of them soon drifted off to sleep after they snuggled up to eachother under the blankets.

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Alright, this took me a REALLY long time to write. I hope this was a great lemon, it was definitely the best I've written so far! I don't know why, but when I reached to the swaying hips part I felt like a timeskip would be a dick move and I just decided to go with it :) With this chapter I've reached 50K words so wooh that's another milestone. See y'all at the actual start of the Oracion Seis arc!


	28. Chapter 28

After a blissful night, Natsu and Mirajane were making their way to the guild hall. They were dressed in their normal attires. Feeling like eyes were planted on his back,, Natsu looked around and sniffed the air. Mirajane noticed his action and questioned what he was doing.

"Something wrong?" She asked him, he shook his head.

"I don't know. I'm feeling like we're being watched. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's bad or good." Natsu explained the feeling he got.

"Don't break your little head over it, it's probably nothing." Mirajane smiled at him.

"You don't trust my senses?" Natsu looked back at her, she was surprised by the sudden change of mood.

"Of course I do, I just don't want even more stuff happening to the guild." She looked away from him, feeling as she had just distrusted him. Natsu swung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer.

"Then we're gonna make sure nothing will, right?" She looked up at his grin and couldn't help but smile. When they arrived at the guild the average procedure would take place. Natsu would find Gray and insult him for being a pervert as he would sit naked as usual. Mirajane would go over to the bar and serve everyon their drinks. Cana was found at the bar as usual, she took a seat close to Mirajane.

"Say, Mira." Cana spoke up, she was only as drunk as she usually is. Mirajane turned and looked at the card mage.

"How's Natsu?" Cana raised her head so she could see the silver haired woman's face. She looked confused until her smile returned.

"What do you mean, Natsu's fine!" She cleaned up a couple of mugs and pulled out more of these.

"I didn't mean how he's physically doing, I meant what he's like ... yaknow." Cana whinked at Mirajane, she was still confused.

"What's he like in bed?" Cana asked her straight-out, Mirjan took a step back from the very surprising question.

"Isn't that beteen me and him?" Mirajane asked cautiously.

"Nope, you need to share that. Besides, I'm not the only one wondering." Before Mirajane could become even more confused Cana pulled out a magazine by the name 'Sorcerer's Weekly' and opened it to show her one specific page. It told them that Natsu was in the top 10 male wizard idols to female mages in Fiore.

"Seems like he's got quite the image in publicity right now. Newspapers are talking about him quite often. How he suddenly returned from a 2 year long journey with you. How he fended off an entire guild by himself. How he defeated the man that infiltrated the magic council. We can be happy nobody knows about our fire dragon trip yet." Mirajane looked at the page and took the information Cana gave her. It was all very surprising to her, but she mostly slightly pissed off at the fact that he was given so much attention by the opposite gender. Worst about it all was that he didn't even know himself. Then the doors of the guild hall opened for someone they all despised so much.

"COOOOOOOOL!" Jason of the Sorcerers' Weekly magazine shouted as soon as he entered the guild hall. But unlike many other times, he didn't seem as distrated hence he went straight for Natsu.

"Natsu Dragneel, I have some question for you." Jason seriously spoke as he pulled out his noteblock.

"Um ... Ok then?" Natsu muttered confused as he was being dragged to a seat by Jason.

"We've been hearing rumors about dragons being seen around Fairy Tail. What do you know about this? Was it perhaps your father, Igneel? Or was it another fire dragon? Or was it just a friend of your father?" The mood around the guild quickly turned serious. They knew humans weren't supposed to know about the dragon's appearance. Natsu was holding his breath, thinking about how to respond. After a while he took a deep sigh.

"Igneel was here, yes. But he is no longer." Natsu smiled at Jason, who quickly noted everything down.

"So at long last you have been reunited with your foster parent? And why did he leave again? Did he tell you this time?" Jason continued to throw a barrage of questions at the fire mage.

"Igneel died in this very forest." The mood turned very gloomy, even for the reporter.

"Natsu ..." Mirajane started, but was stopped when Natsu motioned her to stop.

"It's fine. As you may or may not know, Igneel was the king of the fire dragons." Natsu started to speak again, peeking the interest of Jason.

"So if he died, then what happened next? Was there some sort of election?" Natsu chuckled at the question.

"I guess you could say that. It was actually a very tough challenge that the soon to be king had to beat." Jason noted down all of the information Natsu was giving him.

"So it was only possible for the most powerful dragon of them all to beat them?" Jason asked.

"Actually, it wasn't a dragon at all that beated the trials." Natsu laughed while saying it, Jason only took a confused look.

"Huh? Then what did?" Natsu laughed again.

"This guy." He smiled while pointing at himself with his thumbs. No matter how serious the situation was, the entire guild had to crack a smile at the childish way of telling Jason.

"COOOOOOOOOOOOOL, so you are now the king of the fire dragons?" Jason yelled out and asked for confirmation, Natsu nodded.

"THIS IS GONNA BE THE BEST STORY EVER!" Jason quickly rushed his pen over a new blank page.

"Thank you so much, Natsu. This is way more than I could've hoped for. But ... Why aren't you sad about the loss of your father?" Jason asked as he was standing before the door, ready to leave.

"Because he still lives within me, I talk to him quite often actually." Natsu smiled at him.

"Cool." Jason calmy said (if that's possible?) and left the building. Silence commenced for a little while until Erza broke it.

"Natsu ... are you sure about this?" He turned to face her with a smile.

"Yeah, it's my land after all, right? I get the feeling this is gonna tick off that black dragon." He evily smiled while looking away. Many sweatdropped at the reasoning behind his actions.

A few days later you could get to know all about Natsu's recent experiences in every form of media. He was even increasing in the top 10 of male wizard idols, much to Mirajane's annoyance. As he walked through Magnolia he could recieve several stares of amazement or envy from many people. He tried to just act naturally and smiled to everyone as he passed them. It didn't take long for everyone to accept Natsu as his regular self again, though some still treated him differently. Natsu sighed as he made his way to the guild again, Mirajane had gotten up early and gone off without him. When he entered the guild he saw the master standing on the stage.

"NATSU, YOU'RE GOING TOO!" He shouted while pointing at Natsu, who was very shocked.

"Wha- Going where? Master?" He raised his hands defensively before him.

"Natsu, There's been activity by one of the main dark guilds. Oracion Seis has been on the move and whatever it is, we've gotta stop them." Mirajane informed him about the situation.

"This is going to be a collaboration mission with 3 other guilds. This is to make sure we will not fail, remember that this is one of the 3 strongest dark guilds we're facing! Natsu, Mira, Gray and Erza, you will be the members of Fairy Tail that will see this mission through." Master Makarov continued. Natsu realized the responsibility he and the other mages had and nodded. With that, they all took off after preparing. They would meet somewhere in a forest far away from Magnolia, in a church. Natsu had no idea where it was, only that it would take transport. Mirajane's soothing ways helped him through it. Thanks to her, he drifted off to sleep in her lap during the ride.

When Natsu awoke he was supported by Mirajane out of their transport. He was still slightly Nauseous but it would wear off shortly. As they entered the abandoned church they noticed nobody was there.

"Seems like we're the first to arrive." Erza stated. They awaited the arrival of the other mages until the doors opened to reveal three teenagers and an orange haired man.

"Men!" He spoke while he rushed to Erza, who had been in pure shock the moment she saw him.

"Erza, your parfum is only matched by the beauty in your fair hair and skin. Let us ..." But before he could finish he was kicked in the face by the scarlet-haired mage. The three apprentices had disappeared from where they were.

"Oh Mirajane. Everytime I see you, it seems like your beauty is reflected in my eyes in a different and more appealing way." The middle one started.

"Can I call you nee-sama?" The smaller one asked.

"H-Hibiki .. Eve ... Ren ..." Mirajane started but was silenced by Hibiki's finger.

"Shhhh ... it's ok. You don't need to say it, I understand. Your eyes radiate the determination and desire you have deep within you." Hibiki smoothly turned everything she wanted to say against her.

"Actually I really need to ask you this." She started again. Hibiki's eyes widened.

"What is it?" She chuckled at his anxiety.

"Any last words?" He looked confused until he sensed the presence of a fiery satan bahind him. When he turned he could barely manage to catch the picture of a black, red-eyed demon engulfed by flames before he was slammed across the room.

"Stay. Away. From. Her." Natsu spoke with a satanic voice, his flames surging around him. It scared all of the Blue Pegasus mages as they quickly positioned themselves across from the dragon slayer.

"Natsu, we're supposed to cooperate with them, not murder them." Erza scolded him until Ichiya showed up again and got slammed into the ground by her.

"I could say the same to you." He laughed at the knight mage. The doors opened again to reveal a man with silver hair, an older and bold one and a woman with pink hair.

"Lamia Scale." Ichiya brought out.

"Lyon." Gray muttered.

"You know that guy?" Natsu asked Gray while pointing at Lyon.

"That's Lyon. They're not related, but you could say Lyon's Gray's brother. He was taught Ice Magic simultaniously with Gray by the same teacher." Erza explained, she had met him for the first time on Galuna Island.

"Seems like almost everyone's here, one more guild to go." Jura started. As if on qeue, a small, blue-haired girl ran in the room with a cat behind her. As she shouted at all the mages to announce her presence she tripped and fell flat on her face.

"Uh, are you ok?" Natsu crouched down by her and helped her up.

"Yeah, sorry I'm quite clumsy sometimes." The girl spoke up.

"I'm from Cait Shelter. My name's Wendy." She continued.

"No offense, but you don't look so strong." Natsu told her what they all were thinking, but no one wanted to say it.

"I don't know much offensive spells, but I know a lot of support spells and I can heal your injuries." Wendy smiled at everyone.

"Healing ... There is no magic around the allows for healing anymore, not in a form that's useful during combat anyways." Jura started.

"There is, but it's not very common. I know Sky Dragon Slayer Magic." Wendy explained the origin of her abilities, much to everyone's surprise.

"You're a dragon slayer?!"Natsu shouted, she nodded.

"Yeah, and I know you are too." She looked up at him, she had heard about Natsu and looked up to him.

"Well who hasn't, really." Mirajane gently started while pushing the little girl away from Natsu. Wendy was too close to Natsu than is comfortable for Mirajane, especially seeing how she looks at him.

"Now that everyone is present, we can start discussing what we will do from henceforth." Jura started to get serious about the situation.

"Why waste time, if you can do it fast." a voice echoed throughout the room.

"Now now, racer. Let the mages discuss their strategy, we want them to have a chance." another voice started.

"SHOW YOURSELVES!" Natsu shouted.

"Don't get impatient, boy. You'll get your shot soon enough. We'll be waiting for you to finish up, until then!" The voice echoed for one last time.

"Damn it, they already found us. We have to hurry." Jura stated, the mages nodded and rushed out of the building. Wendy was still confused to what just happened.

"Wendy, you can't stay behind like that, come on!" A while cat yelled at her and motioned her to move. Wendy quickly followed the mages into the forest.


	29. Chapter 29

I'm extremely sorry about having missed out on an upload. I guess my excuse for that is that I couldn't get myself to sit down and get this done with. That's how much my brain despises this arc. So I've officially concluded that I'll be skipping the second Oracion Seis arc, but I'll definitely try my best to pull through this one. I think this chapter turned out pretty well for what it is. Also I believe that I will be skipping Edolas as well, I don't quite feel up to go through that adventure :P I hope you guys won't mind too much with these, but just in case it is I have announced these now. Anyways, hope y'all will enjoy the chapter!

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As the group rushed outside, they were quickly greeted by 6 dark mages that resembled the Oracion Seis guild.

"So they did try faster." The man presumably going by the name of 'Racer' called out.

"Racer, be quiet now. We don't want them to feel threatened, do we?" A man with a staff silenced him.

"Can we just beat these guys and be done with it?" Natsu asked aloud while pushing his fist into his hand.

"How cute, the brat thinks he can take us. Racer, I'll let you have the first one." With a grin, Racer dashed forward and met almost all of the mages in their back with a kick. As soon as they all noticed the engage of the enemy they prepared for battle. All of the mages got to deal with a member of the dark guild, except for the one called 'Midnight' who was apparently asleep.

"So you're a quick one, eh? I hope you don't disappoint, we'll find out soon enough." Natsu grinned as he got into his battle stance while his body got replaced by crimson flames.

"You think a little fire around your body will protect you from my blows?" Racer called out as he appeared behind Natsu. As he kicked he noticed his leg going straight through Natsu, seeming like it had no effect at all. Natsu turned his head to look at him over his shoulder with a grin.

"Who said this fire is around my body?" Racer had tried to kick again, but it had no effect like the first time. Though now his leg had gotten stuck inside of Natsu's fiery body, it seemed Natsu had timed to solidify his flames to trap Racer.

"How good will that speed do you now? ERUPTION!" Racer had nowhere to go as his leg was held in place. Natsu slammed his hands down onto the ground and with that a fiery pillar formed up ot the sky, covering both Natsu and Racer from vision. Soon Racer was blown out of the pillar and hit a rock, he was severely burned but was not out. Though he was in no state to fight since he knew he had no chance against the dragon slayer. If physical attacks wouldn't work he had no chance. Racer dashed away to seek for an easier opponent he could sneak up on. Natsu watched his enemy disappear and let out a sigh.

"Well ... He disappointed." He spoke while he ran to help his allies in need.

Wendy had just arrived and looked around to see who needed the most help. She went over to Jura and Lyon who were facing Brain. As soon as she got there she cast vernier to increase the movement speed of her allies, giving them a higher chance of evading Brain's many Dark Cappricios. Jura could bring brain off balance quite easily by using his earth magic beneath Brain himself. Lyon could then follow up with his ice eagles. Brain wouldn't get hit by any lethal attack though.

"Damn this guy's annoying." Lyon spoke aloud, Jura nodded. Wendy had attempted a few dragon roars but those hadn't connected either. Lyon had now created a giant ape from ice, Jura smirked at the sight and copied his ape with solid earth.

"Since when can you do that?" Lyon asked his partner.

"It's not like I'm being creative, I just joined the theme." He smirked, the both made their ape charge at the dark mage. Slowly Brain would crumble a bit with the use of multiple Dark Cappricios and Dark Deletes. Though 2 agile apes weren't the easiest to dodge, he was hit in mid-air after evading the other ape by jumping. The 2 mages cancelled their magic and prepared a more powerful move as Brain was still recovering. Lyon had prepared an ice dragon to charge at Brain, while Jura was preparing his 'Supreme King Rock Crush' spell. As the mountain of rocks formed the dragon dove into the mage's body. After he had been completely covered with rocks, Jura engaged into the second phase of his spell. He summoned 2 giant hands the crushed the small mountain.

"Such a shame that it didn't hit." Brain sighed from behind them.

"For real?" Lyon called out.

"Teleportation." Jura muttered. Brain prepared for a Zero Slash, but Wendy, who had been a bit further behind them the whole time, managed to strike Brain with her dragon roar. He was blown to the ground as he was quickly hit again by a rock fist and ice eagles.

"Nice job, Wendy." Lyon turned to gave her a thumbs up. Brain had disappeared from the spot though.

Elsewhere Sherry and Ren were facing Hoteye. Sherry was found in her usual Rock Doll while Ren was evading the slippery, liquid ground that hoteye produced while spamming multiple Aerial Shots his way. Sherry charged at him with her doll while preparing it's fist for a swing.

"Tut tut." Hoteye merely muttered while he liquified the Rock Doll of Sherry.

"Damn it, well try that same trick with this one then!" Sherry summoned her Wood Doll that Hoteye couldn't simply liquify. Instead he made it sink into the ground.

"You are so annoying!" Sherry yelled at him.

Ren was using his aerial levitation to make sure he could avoid the puddles of mud that Hoteye created, but as he soared over one of them Hoteye made it explode. Ren was flung up into the air, he recovered and was now floating downwards. Ren managed to hit an Aerial Shot here and then, mostly when he was working on Sherry. Suddenly Ren was slammed down from the air by a Racer that appeared behind him.

"you look charred, Racer. Don't tell me you actually got hit." Hoteye mocked his ally.

"Shut it, I don't need to hear anything of the sort from you." Racer tried to silence Hoteye but only increased his pleasure. Ren had recovered and was now preparing his powerful spell while they were having their little chat.

"Aerial Phose!" He took a circular stance while engulfing the air around him in a giant torrent with the shape of a sphere.

"Why do all these mages gotta have so much giant and whide spells." Racer complained as he was blown to the side. Hoteye had tried to protect himself with the liquified ground but was still blown away.

"Woah, Ren you're amazing!" Sherry praised him.

"I will do whatever is in my power to save a damsel in distress." He spoke as cool as he could with his hands in his pockets.

Grey and Eve were facing off against Angel.

"3 coins for the cost of 30, I summon forth ... Barakiel!" Angel threw 3 golden coins into the air while speaking the charm, summoning the angel known as Barakiel.

"Great, what kind of magic is this." Gray complained as he looked at the magic she performed.

"That's angel magic, it summons forth angels at the cost of something." Hibiki explained from behind him, digging in his archive.

"Sounds great." Eve sighed out. It didn't matter much to the snow mage as he prepared his first attack.

"White Fury!" Eve shouted when his hands joined together to fire a stream of snow at the angel. The angel radiated a bright light that nullified Eve's attack. After this Gray quickly followed up with Ice Lances, these pierced one of the angel's arms. Barakiel didn't seem to mind too much as it slammed down one of it's many fists at the ice mage. Gray managed to evade the attack while Eve fired a White Fang at the fist that came down, hitting it spot on. Constantly swapping targets, they attacked the fist that was attacking the other mage who would evade the incoming attack.

Eventually Barakiel seemed to lose battle strength. Angel ordered Barakiel to finish the battle quickly and the angel radiated the destructive light again. Much to her surprise it broke the ice and snow clones that the mages had made. She was now clenched in between an Ice Geyser and a White Fang. As the attacks hit a mistcloud of snow was covering her.

Mirajane was in her Satan Soul fighting Cobra with Erza at her side. Much to their annoyance, Cobra seemed to be able to evade each and every one of their attacks. Mirajane had tried multiple spells that even had a whide area of effect, but to no avail. Erza had tried her flight armor to increase her chances of hitting a blow, but even this hadn't worked.

"I can hear them, I can hear your thoughts. You can't hit me, I know exactly what you'll do." Cobra cockily spoke, it was the explenation for his evasive movements. Erza had changed armor and now prepared for a Moon Splitter as she brought her swords in an X-shaped motion and slashed forward, while Mirajane prepared an Evil Spark and charged at Cobra as well.

"Pointless." Cobra sighed as he evaded the attacks with ease. While he evaded he stroke Erza arm with his poison claw while Mirajane's neck had gotten bitten by the fangs of his snake.

"W-What is ... What have you done?" Erza muttered as she felt her body going numb. Mirajane muttered the same questionable words as she slowly dropped to the ground. Cobra looked down on them until his eyes widened at the new thoughts entering his ears, he quickly evaded the fire pillar the rose from beneath him.

"You. Hurt. Her?" A satanic voice spoke from behind him, much to Cobra's surprise. It seems Natsu was so blinded by his rage he wasn't thinking about anything at all, he just wanted to kill Cobra and that moment. His flames disappated and resembled quickly after all his attacks to unleash a fury of blows from all different directions. Cobra was having trouble keeping until one hit him in the stomach. From that point on Natsu chained all his hits together until he managed to throw Cobra off his flying snake. His animal still caught him before he hit the ground though.

"It's about time we get what we came for and move on." A voice echoed throughout the place. Brain appeared behind Wendy and sucked her up in some sort of dark cyclone. Jura had tried to use his earth to catch her but to no avail. After completing the capture Oracion Seis assembled in the center and disappeared simultaniously.

"DAMN IT!" Natsu slammed his fist down at the ground, they had kidnapped Wendy. But now he was checking to see how dangerous Erza and Mirajane's situation were.

"What happened to them?" Gray asked him.

"I don't know, I think that red-haired douchebag poisoned them or something." Carla went over to their bodies and checked on the scars and marks, they were now surrounded by a dark purple tint on their skin.

"Wendy could heal this, I don't know anything else that could." She spoke.

"Then we have to get her back as fast as possible!" Natsu called out determined.

"You're right, but first let us know what the enemy's goal is. That'll give us a much higher chance of finding their base of operations." Jura suggested. Hibiki opened his archive and spoke up while displaying images.

"This forest contains a very secret spell that goes by the name of 'Nirvana'. It's said to change good to bad and bad to good. It can destroy the balance of dark and legit mages in the world." They all recieved the explenation.

"Nirvana ..." Natsu muttered.


	30. Chapter 30

Hiya, back with another chapter. I got it done today, so claps for me! I have no idea how to actually get myself to do stuff I should be doing, I'm surprised I can manage to get these chapters out on an ok schedule. I tend to be lazy, but ah well. At least I think I'm doing my job here fairly well. Been talking to people, that's mainly what kept me busy.(JuliannaCherries is an awesome person)

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Hibiki had given all the information he could to the allied mages. The trimen would stay behind with Carla to watch over the two unconscious women. Natsu gave them a glare, thinking of what they could do to them while nobody was watching them. Carla reassured Natsu that if the playboys were to do anything to them she would take countermeasures, the voice she said it with made nobody ask further questions. So now they are all split up into groups of 2 or 3, except for Natsu. Natsu was the quickest of them all and would only be slowed down by a partner, for the same reason he was given the bigggest perimiter to cover.

"Natsu, you only have a few miles more to go. After that we should all meet up and talk about what we've discovered so far. I've already sent word to the others, you will supposedly be the last one to arrive." Hibiki's voice echoed through his head. Natsu nodded and closed his eyes to visualize the map Hibiki's magic had downloaded into his head. he was almost on the complete opposite side of the forest from where he started. He made sure he was rushing low enough to not touch the branches of the trees and set them aflame, a forest fire would be the least he wanted to cause. What he did want to be responsible for was the rescue of Wendy, and with that, the rescue of his mate and his nakama.

He heard a small shuffle of the leaves in the distance, Natsu preceeded with caution and slowed down. When he heard the voices of the people on the other side of the bush, he revealed himself and calmy walked over to them. When he laid his hand on Gray's shoulder, the ice mage jumped up in surprise and turned around in battle stance. When he saw Natsu's grinning face he resumed his casual stance.

"What good are you to Juvia if you get surprised by even that, Gray?" Lyon cockily asked, recieving a glare from Gray. Natsu turned to face Lyon with a serious expression.

"Lyon, now is not the time for such matters. We have a mission to do." Lyon scowled at that, he knew Natsu was completely right. It had surprised them though, Natsu being so serious.

"What are you guys doing here anyways? Weren't we all supposed to head back?" Natsu asked them, Hibiki had told him he's be the last so he didn't exactly think he'd be coming along some of others.

"We were the closest to you and you suddenly went off the radar, so Hibiki asked us to check up on you. But it seems he was able to contact you again, so let's go." Gray explained. Natsu nodded and walked with them back to the camp. Natsu felt weird, like something was missing. After a bit of tinkering he noticed that he couldn't sense Gray's, Juvia's or Lyon's scent. He narrowed his eyes and visualized the map, they were going in the right direction. He couldn't let his guard down, but didn't let them notice his suspicions. If it was the enemy's doing, he's probably end up at their base of operations. If he were to end up there, then he'd accomplished his objective. He suddenly managed to pick up the scent of mages again, not the friendly kind though. He let out no sign that would reveal that, as he just continued to look straight forward and walk alongside his 'allies'.

"My, my, isn't this troublesome? The little flame butterly fluttered into our spiderweb." Angel spoke from a tree. Natsu didn't turned to face her, instead he grinned.

"Is that 'spiderweb' supposed to be your trap? Because if so, it's not a trap if I knew about it." He countered her words. She looked confused at him.

"If you knew, that makes you stupider than you look." Racer appeared next to her on the branch.

"Maybe he's just got a lot of money, and thinks he can bribe us." Hoteye suspected from another branch.

"We're not here to discuss these matters, we're here to capture the boy." Brain appeared close to him. Natsu started to sink in the now quicksand that was beneath him. He smirked and his fiery form appeared instead of his regular form. His arms expanded as he pushed himself into the air, his body grew to the size of a titan. He now was standing before them as the fiery giant he had just become.

"Angel, his power is quite great, don't you agree?" Brain asked her.

"Indeed, That seems pretty fun to fight with." She pulled out a golden key.

"Open, gate of the twins. I call forth, Gemini!" She called out the blue twins who were looking at the fiery titan before them.

"Do your thing, Gemini." Angel silently spoke while she laughed. They both nodded and took the same appearance as Natsu. As soon as he saw this he licked his lips. Before they both could do anything they were sucked into the dragon slayer's mouth.

"Wait... did he just EAT Gemini?!" Angel questioned, nobody could truly respond to what they saw. Natsu let out a loud roar, one that everybody in the forest could hear.

"Is that ... Natsu?" Gray turned around with that question.

"He must've found the enemy, get a move on everybody!" Hibiki commanded. The mages set out to support the fire dragon slayer in combat.

"Guess we're gonna have to beat him the old fashioned way." Brain spoke while he looked down. Giant liquid pillars of earth rose up to contain the titan, it didn't matter much. Natsu just walked through them like if he was a transient being.

"How do you even fight that?" Racer asked, it was sort of impossible for him to hurt Natsu.

"Physical attacks won't work, so you beat him with magical ones. That's slightly troublesome for you and Hoteye. I want you two to survey the area and make sure to tell us when his allies arrive, surely they're on their way here. They nodded and moved out in their own way, Racer just speeded off and Hoteye merged with the earth.

"Cobra, taking down something big like that, I believe poison would be quite an effective tool. I want you to keep a safe distance and make sure he won't be able to move as time progresses, Angel and me will keep him at bay." Brain instructed the both of them as Cobra stapped back and rose to the sky with his snake.

"I guess that's just gonna be roarin' the whole time." He shrugged as he prepared his first Poison Dragon Roar at Natsu.

"You're gonna have to, Angel." She nodded and pulled out 10 golden coins.

"At the cost of 100, I summon forth the angel of justice, Raguel!" The white, 7-headed, winged, 4-armed angel materialized before them. Brain teleported and prepared for an extremely wide Zero Slash. As Raguel blew his horns, Natsu found pain surging through his body and was thrown off-balance. Brain's attack landed easily and was quickly followed up by a Poison Dragon Roar. It didn't physically affect Natsu's current body, but he had surely taken some heavy blows. He could also feel how it had become slightly harder to move his body, he remembered what Cobra had shouted before he performed his magic.

'A dragon slayer, huh? And poison at that, that's annoying.' His thoughts formed the word 'annoyin' which was a huge understatement as it would soon irritate the hell out of him how he was constantly kept off-balance by that stupid angel's sound while the others just attacked him with ease. As they kept doing it the dark mages believe in an easy victory. Natsu pulled up his gigantic hand and ... waved? They looked confused at the gesture. Angel saw from the corner of her eyes a small flame dazzling next to her.

"Ugh ... crap." She sighed before she was blown through multiple trees and ended up unconscious, resulting in the disappearance of the angel.

"Now that we got the most annoying crap out of the way, let's truly start the fun." He stood up and twirled his arm as if he was doing stretching exercises. He wasn't completely top-notch as the poison still had it's effect on Natsu.

"I don't think you're doing quite well, looks like you're having trouble moving properly." Cobra smirked at the titan, who seemed to have trouble with his movements.

"Well yeah, duh. If I'm gonna eat pioson the entire time, that's what happens." Natsu's eyes brightened, he increased his body heat dramatically. Brain backed away so he would not get scorched from the sheer heat coming from the dragon slayer. Purple fog started evaporating from Natsu's fiery body.

"Is he ... Burning the infection away?" Cobra asked brain. Natsu grinned down at them.

"Are we ready now?" He asked, he sounded like he was anxious to truly fight them.

"Brain, they defeated Hoteye, they're on their way here now." Racer rushed to Brain's side and informed him.

"I guess it's time we leave then. Racer, get Angel." Brain ordered as he teleported away. Racer dashed and Cobra flew, removing theirselves from the battlefield. Natsu resumed his regular form as he fell to his knees and planted his hands into the ground.

"Natsu!" He heard from the mages before him, he looked up to see his friends that came to help him.

"I'm ... fine." He muttered, until he collapsed on the ground. A few hours had passed until the fire dragon slayer opened his eyes. He looked to his left to see Mirajane, who had the dark purple poison scattered over her shoulders, neck and upper arms. The sight agitated him, he wanted to do everything he could to bring her out of this narrow situation. He felt so disappointed because now he was just lying around, doing nothing.

"You better start talking!" He could hear from his right. His friends were standing before Hoteye's bound body.

"You won't get nothing from me, unless you've got a lot of money of course." His eyes started showing dollar signs, but the request was simply blown off by the mages.

"We need you to heal him." Brain demanded the sky dragon slayer. Wendy was having doubts, she believed this man had saved her while she had also heard terrible things about him.

"You mustn't do it, Wendy! He's an evil man!" Happy shouted to her while he was in the same, bound position as her. He had clenched onto her as she was suched into the dark vortex Brain had used to capture her. Racer kicked the cat into unconsciousness.

"We won't be hearing from him any longer." He smirked.

"You'll get some time to consider, but we won't guarantee your safety if you refuse." Brain walked away, followed by the rest of his dark guild.

Wendy was having serious doubts, she had no idea what she should do. She wondered what Natsu would do, he always seemed to be so sure about everything he did.

"Natsu wouldn't leave someone for dead, even if it were to be an enemy." She brought herself to think.


	31. Chapter 31

This chapter went pretty good, got it done quite fast. Not a lot of action in this one but I think I told it nicely, so yeah. Hope y'all don't mind too much. Alright people I'm signing off for now, I'll see y'all in 2 days! Hope y'all enjoy, see ya next time!

When Brain returned with his guild members he was pleased to see a dazed Jellal stand before Wendy. He slowly walked over to him and laid his hand on his shoulder.

"It's good to see you're well, old friend." He greeted him. Jellal's face remained unphazed by his familiarity until he slowly moved his hand to his chest and blasted Brain away with some heavenly magic.

"Wh-What is the meaning of this?!" The dark mage questioned as he stormed out of the crater in the wall with the shape of his body. Jellal remained silent as he walked to the exit of the cave. The dark mages tried to stop him but suffered the same fate as their guild master. Wendy looked confused at Jellal's actions, she started to believe the bad rumors that had been told about him. She used the convenience of every dark mage being taken out with ease to escape.

"Seriously all this guy thinks about is money, we're not getting anything from him unless we can afford it." Gray muttered while he was walking a little bit away from the camp. He heard the leaves shake and quickly assumed his battle stance.

"Yo, who there?" He called out, Wendy's tripping animation soon followed. Gray stared at how comedic it looked when the small girl fell on her face. After realizing what just happened, he rushed to her side and helped her up.

"Wendy! Are you okay? What happened?" Were the natural questions that popped up in his mind.

"I'll tell you latet, when everybody can hear it." He nodded and quickly dragged her to the camp.

"Wendy!" Multiple mages shouted, Natsu turned his attention to the direction they all seemed to face.

"I managed to get Happy out too, Natsu. He took a bit of a beating though." Wendy handed the bruised cat over to the fire mage.

"Heh, that's allright. A few bruises is nothing Happy can't take." He smiled down at the blue furred friend of his.

"Natsu ..." Happy weakly smiled.

"Just rest, little buddy. We'll get this mess over with soon enough, and then we can go eat fish." Natsu reassured his best friend while holding him tightly.

"Wendy, we're kind of dealing with an emergency here. We need Mirajane and Erza cured quickly, they probably can't last much longer." Charla told her. Wendy nodded and quickly breathed in a bit of air before going to work. She started with Erza, since she had more skin covered in purple. It took quite some time, but Wendy managed to remove the poison from Erza's body. After Erza was cured she almost collapsed on top of the woman's body.

"Are you okay Wendy? You need to rest a bit." Charla went over to her shoulders with concern.

"No, I can't rest now. Mirajane needs to be cured too." Wendy muttered while scoffling over to Mirajane's body.

"But Wendy you almost used ALL of your magic energy just for Erza, how do you think you can handle Mirajane right now?" Charla countered, but Wendy wouldn't listen. She positioned herself above Mirajane and started executing her magic on her, Natsu paid much attention to Wendy while she was doing this. It was obvious Wendy wouldn't be able to cure Mirajane with the magic she had right now. Natsu slowly managed to crawl out of his position and over to Wendy.

"Natsu, what're you doing? You can't move yet with the injuries you have right now." Hibiki started but was stopped when Gray motioned him to do so. Natsu laid his hands on Wendy's back. When he did his magic circle appeared and Wendy's eyes lit up with the same flames that always burned in his own. The light from her healing magic increased in brightness by a lot and the purple skin started to retract from Mirajane's body. All of the poisoned skin retracted to the 2 bite marks until it all had vanished, leaving only the 2 small holes in her neck. Natsu collapsed when she was done and Wendy looked at her hands, wondering what really had just happened.

"Natsu!" Multiple cries of concern were thrown at his unconscious body. They laid him back where he was lying right before he helped Wendy cure Mirajane. While they were awaiting the 3 mages to wake up, Wendy told them how she managed to escape.

"Seriously? You healed Jellal? It wouldn't surprise me if he was wanting to take Nirvana all for himself right now." Gray faced away and crossed his arms.

"But it got me out of there, and the dark mages took a heavy blow from him. I don't know if he was truly dark though, I saw neither good nor evil intent in his eyes. He looked confused rather than ambitious."

"But you know where they are now, right?" Hibiki asked, she nodded and he asked her to give her the exact location. When he figured it out he updated his map and the map in everyone's head with the location of their enemy's hideout.

"So what should we do now?" Lyon asked the group.

"I believe we should make 3 groups. One to stay here and guard the unconscious mages, another to stalk Jellal and another to look over the enemy's whereabouts and actions." Jura suggested, they all approved of the idea. The least combatant mages as the cats, Hibiki and Wendy stayed behind with Jura. Lyon, Gray and Sherry would be going after Oracion Seis while Eve, Ichiya and Ren would tail Jellal. After everyone departed the small cait shelter members were left with Hibiki and Jura.

"Let's make a fire, so that when Natsu wakes up he can regain his magic power quickly." Wendy suggested, the others quickly approved of the idea. The first time they had a small blaze going, but when Wendy wanted to blow to increase the fire she had blown all of the branches away. They all chuckled at the little girl, she blushed and quickly tried to make up for her mistake. Soon they were warmed by a comfortable flame, night was befalling over the mages. It would be the perfect time for stealthy actions such as they are doing right now. They could hear grumbling from their sides.

"Erza-san, Mira-san!" Wendy shouted when she saw movement coming from the 2 female mages. They lifted their heads, still holding it with their hands.

"Care to enlighten us?" The take over mage asked.

"Cobra poisoned the two of you. I managed to get Erza but if it weren't for Natsu, you probably would've died." Wendy looked down while pointing at Natsu, she realized she probably wouldn't have been able to save Mirajane in time. Mirajane chuckled at the girl's insecurity.

"You should get used to Natsu taking the spotlight, he always manages to do so." Now most of them were laughing. It was true that the dragon slayer always managed to get the most credit with everything that happened, were it destruction or bravery, fighting strength or kindness, Natsu always seemed to overthrow anyone in his way.

"It's what makes him so great." She smiled down at him. It was slightly ironic how they were talking so highly of him while he was the only one with them sleeping it off. Wendy explained everything that had happened while they weren't with them.

"Jellal's around here?!" Erza asked shocked.

"Erza you shouldn't go-" Mirajane started but when she turned she saw that Erza was already gone. They all sighed.

"I guess that's love, huh?" Jura smiled at Mirajane.

"It sure is." She blushes slightly while she, again, turned her face to the dragon slayer. She noticed his fingers twitching.

"Are we awake?" She seductively spoke while crawling over to him, the rest slightly chuckled at her actions.

"Mira, I don't wanna get up yet. Could you open the door?" He asked while turned around in his lying position.

"Why would I open the door? It'd just get cold." She replied, they couldn't help but laugh at the conversation the two were having.

"Because someone's knocking." After this they turned more serious.

"Knocking? I don't hear any knocking, Natsu." Mirajane questioned his statement. Natsu slowly raised himself so he was sitting straight and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He noticed he wasn't at home, in fact he wasn't even in a bed. He remembered everything that happened up to this point. He noticed the fire and quickly sucked it in, then disappated and reappared somewhere else. They heard the sound of someone getting beaten up. When Natsu returned he simply joined them and ignored the questioning looks.

"He was trying to get away." With that they all remembered they were holding someone captive.

"Where's Erza?" Natsu looked around and noticed the knight mage was missing. The group told them about Jellal and he ended up vanishing as fast as Erza had, the group sighed in defeat. The purpose originally was to guard those mages that were unconscious but they're now just there to hold down the fort. Natsu could smell Jellal, nobody else could. He could find him before anyone else, he had to make sure no one else would get hurt. Erza can't meet him first, she'd probably get killed. Soon Natsu caught up to Jellal, though Natsu couldn't be detected by sight. Jellal seemed to wander aimlessly, though he had a goal. He remembered this place, pretty much the only thing he could. When he felt the air around him heaten, he wondered what it was.

"This heat ... familiar." He muttered out loud.

"Aw c'mon, Jellal. Don't tell me you forgot the beating I gave ya last time." Natsu grinned while he materliazed in front of the man.

"I-I ... Shouldn't I have?" He asked. Natsu laughed loudly.

"Aw man that's the best! Don't tell you forgo-" Natsu looked in the sincerely confused eyes of Jellal.

"Y-You're not kidding?!" He asked amazed, Jellal nodded with the same look.

"Are you seriously having amnesia right now?" He kept recieving nods from the dark mage.

"Well I guess I'll tell you who you are then. To put it bluntly, you are one heck of a cocksucking asshole. Erza Scarlet, you almost killed her not too long ago. Heck, you pretty much ruined her childhood and everything along with it. You almost revived someone that you knew would kill thousands and thousands of people. You killed people left and right to achieve that goal. You enslaved thousands of children and adults to build you a monument that you thought would achieve that goal. You caused misery, sorrow and suffering for many people. THAT is the person that you were, Jellal!" Natsu finished describing the despicable being Jellal's old self was. The man before Natsu looked in shock, he fell down on his knees and collapsed.

"I-I hurt that many people?" He asked, seeming as he was in pain.

"Hurting would be an understatement." Natsu replied with cold eyes. The fire mage blew the hard feelings away and stretched his hand for Jellal to grab.

"But you can make up for it." He grinned down at the confused man.

"How can I make up for it, I've done so much bad." He muttered.

"Easy, you just do good from now on." Natsu still grinned down at him, Jellal grabbed his hand and Natsu pulled him up from the ground. After they heard the leaves shudder they saw Erza appear out of the bushes.

"Natsu!" She shouted.

"Erza ... great." Natsu muttered sarcistically.


	32. Chapter 32

I'm sorry for this one being shorter but my sanity is at risk here people! I'm actually dealing with something right now so yeah, that's the reason. I hope you all won't hate me when this happens sometimes.

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"I'm so sorry, I can never make up for what I've done to you." Jellal cried out before her. Erza looked confused down at him, then looked over at Natsu who was shaking his shoulders.

"He's actually got Amnesia, can you believe it?" Natsu gave her a shrug while she stared at him with disbelief.

"But he can make things right again, don't you think?" Natsu hinted with his words and multiple whinks to Erza what he meant. She was still confused but got the message.

"Jellal, would you like to help Fairy Tail?" She crouched to match his eyeheight.

"I can't turn down that offer, I am in your debt." He was pulled off the ground.

"Then help us destroy Nirvana." Erza smiled at him.

"Nirvana... That's the only thing I remember." Jellal muttered quietly.

"What is it?" Erza noticed his thoughtful stance and got curious.

"Nirvana's the only thing I can remember, I know where it is." Jellal explained.

"Can you lead us there?" Natsu spoke up from behind him, he nodded.

"Then let's go." With that, the 3 mages departed.

Meanwhlie Ichiya and the 2 following members of the trimen had caught up. Noticing their allies walking along the dark mage they called them out.

"Natsu, Erza-san! Why is it that such a beautiful parfum is mixing itself with such a disgusting one?" Ichiya glared over at Jellal, who was looking down with regret.

"The guy's got Amnesia and seems to regret what he's done, he's leading us to Nirvana right now." They were surprised, which was quite obvious due to the sounds they made.

"H-He's helping us now?" Ichiya managed to bring out, the 2 friendly mages before him nodded as a response.

"But how do you know we can trust him? What if he's leading us to an ambush by the enemy?" Questions kept coming out.

"I'm pretty sure we can handle this guy by himself, Oracion Seis is still being watched by the others." Natsu reasoned, they couldn't oppose him on that.

"Alright, well let's go then." Ichiya gave in and followed the group to where Nirvana supposedly was.

"Are we sure they're in there?" Lyon asked his companions.

"This is supposedly their hideout, I don't think they left the place yet. We're just gonna have to be patient." Gray replied, which isn't what Lyon was waiting for.

"Quiet, I hear something." The group hid themselves and watched the entrance of the cave which was exited by none other than Brain.

"That brat, I'll show him for just catching me by surprise."

"He must be talking about Jellal." Sherry assumed.

"I think I might have to release Midnight just to teach him a lesson." With that, a grin appeared on Brain's face.

"Then I guess we'll just be waiting for nightfall?" Racer appeared behind him.

"I know you're not fond of waiting, but yes." The speed-maniac growled at that and went back into the cave.

"I guess we don't have to watch them anymore, we're better off reporting this to the group." The ice mages nodded, but when they turned around they were standing face-to-face with Racer.

"Wanna Race?" He jokingly asked. The mages got into a fighting stance.

"Sherry, go and report to the others. We'll handle this guy!" The girl nodded before making a run for it.

"You think you can escape?" He stared at the girl until an ice wall obstructed his vision.

"I don't think you should worry about her." Gray confidently spoke.

"Let's see if you can match my speed, then we'll talk." Racer vanished from sight and reappeared before Gray, he wa quick enough to block his blows with ice though.

"interesting, you're not as slow as you seem." Racer complimented the ice mage's ability's but was surprised by ice eagles soaring by his long nose.

"Don't forget about me." Lyon spoke with a slightly agitated tone. He was kicked back by Racer's speed and found himself behind the ice wall, he saw Sherry running away, he grinned when he realized she was out of immediate danger until he saw something that surprised him. She suddenly gained enormous speed and ran out of his sight. He wondered what that could've been, Sherry didn't know any kind of magic that increased her speed.

"Lyon, keep your head in the fight, will ya!" Gray pulled him back to reality after pushing back Racer's swift blows. Lyon shrugged it off and tried to create agile ice creatures since others wouldn't be able to keep up. Lyon was sent flying after his attack missed and noticed the birds above him gaining immense speed after moving away from them. It dawned to him.

"Gray, stop getting in my way!" Lyon yelled at him while coming closer.

"What'd you just say to me?!" Gray was questioning his ally. Lyon's forehead clashed with Gray's.

"I told you that you're in the way!" He silently explained after yelling at him again.

"Do you think you can handle him alone? I bet you couldn't even scratch him once!" Gray countered to his previous comment.

"Wanna find out?" The silver-haired mage caught Gray in a huge Ice pillar that towerd above the trees.

"Are the two of you seriously squabbling right now? Ah well, the faster I get this over with, the better." Racer took his stance again.

"Care to race then?" Lyon smiled while he turned and ran away from Racer.

"You're not that stupid, are you?" Racer questioned Lyon's sanity before rushing after him. After Lyon was stopped by a giant cliff he was greeted by the sudden appearance of Racer.

"What do you think you're doing?" The dark mage asked him, Lyon answered with a grin.

"I figured out your real magic." Racer took a step back and covered himself with his arm.

"You're speeding up, we're just slowing down." Lyon revealed the truth behind Racer's magic.

"I figured it out after noticing how when some things dramastically increased in speed as they moved away from our location. So that must mean there's a limited area that you can affect with your magic, so if we just get out of that area ..." Lyon pointed in the distance at a blue glinster that came from the ice arrow Gray was pointing at Racer. The slowing mage watched as the arrow hit him straight in his chest.

"Brain, where's Racer?" Angel asked their leader when she noticed he had been gone for quite a while.

"He's probably just running his worries away, you know how he can't sit still." Brain seemed to have no worries until one of the 5 links on his face disappeared.

"AARGH, don't tell me ... Racer's been defeated? Those brats ..."

Lyon gave Gray a thumbs up until he noticed Brain appear behind Gray, the ice wizard tried to warn his ally.

"Zero Slash!" Brain cast his spell on the ice clone of Gray as it shattered in many pieces.

"Ugh, those despicable ice mages..."


	33. Chapter 33

I guess this one's gonna be a bit short again *Scratches back of head* This still took me like 6 hours straight to write or something so yeah ... I'm still not completely mind-clear. But I promise I'll try to regain my regular length of chapters and make sure to get out good content for all of you, thanks for sticking with me!

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"What is this place?" Natsu curiously looked around the giant open space he had just entered with Jellal and Erza accompanying him.

"This is where Nirvana is sealed away. I'm gonna try to destroy it." Jellal explained his intentions and the location.

"How will you do that?" Erza joined the conversation.

"Self-destruct magic." He coldly answsered. They stood still before a boulder of some sort. When Jellal touched it it lit up and exploded in heavy light. Natsu and Erza covered their eyes from the blinding light.

"Unsealing Nirvana will have some side-effects to the area around us. It will be exercising it's magic on everybody in the area if they have doubt in their hearts." Explenations kept following.

"So when someone is unsure they will change from bad to good or vice versa?" Natsu recapped, Jellal confirmed his reasoning.

"I don't have a problem with that and I don't think any of us do either." Natsu confidently pointed at himself. Jellal stretched his hand out so he touched the light, it now formed a pillar up to the sky and became darker.

"Black light?" Erza spoke what she saw before her.

"This is what Nirvana looks like, the destruction will commence when I perform the magic." Runes crawled from Jellal's hand onto the light and spread over it.

"Is that the self-destruct magic?" Natsu asked, making sure he knew what was going on. Jellal nodded as Erza got a worrysome look.

"Then why are the runes spreading over your body as well?" Jellal remained silcent, by now Natsu had noticed the same thing.

"Why shouldn't they? Why should someone like me still be alive?" Jellal answered with questions of himself.

"Damn it, Jellal! That's the easy way out, do you want to do good or do you want to show everyone how weak you are?!" Natsu tackled him to the ground.

Jellal muttered in confusion but was silenced by Natsu again.

"Is that how you're gonna treat the second chance I gave you, throw it away?! Man the fuck up and face the consequences!" Natsu screamed in his face.

"Natsu ..." Erza whispered, Jellal was too shocked to say anything.

"If you truly regret what you've done than you should try to make up for it, and dying's not a way to do it!" Jellal slowly raised his body from the ground after Natsu stood up from him.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight ..." Jellal muttered out.

"Indeed you weren't, you are a fool to turn your back on me." A dark voice spoke from behind them, they all turned to see it was Brain and his subordinates behind him.

"Natsu, Erza, Oracion Seis is on the move!" Hibiki's voice echoes throughout their heads.

"Thanks for the info ... Who do you think we're looking at?" Natsu replied.

"What? Damn it, you've got to get out of there!" The 2 mages heard.

"No, we can't. Send everybody this way!" Natsu countered.

"What? Why?" The archive mage asked.

"Because Nirvana's here..." Natsu went silent after that.

"All of you, get a move on! We gotta get there as fast as possible!" Hibiki shouted while pointing the way. Everybody from the alliance swiftly got up and ran towards the appointed direction.

"So you're trying to destroy it with the magic that I, myself, taught you. I supposed that's cute." Brain smirked, vague memories came to Jellal's mind.

"I don't care for anything you say, can I just get to beat you up already?" Natsu ignited his fists as a sign of his anxiety.

"Keep him busy." Brain threw an order behind him, the dark mages stormed from his back to the opposing mages and engages in battle. Racer made sure not to mess with Natsu since he was a bad matchup. Brain made his way to the crouching Jellal and the pillar of light.

"It would make sense for me to know how to dispel this magic too, right?" Brain whispered at Jellal while he passed him. The runes on the light faded away with Brain's touch.

"Though give me a reason to save you?" The dark guild master lowered his head to match Jellal's eyeheight while he asked this. Jellal remained silent.

"I guess there isn't one then, now get out of here." Brain made an ignorant motion signifying Jellal to get away from his current location. The spall that would completely unseal Nirvana then commenced.

"Was it really right to always be searching for money and fortune? What would brother say of this? Maybe it's time for me to go find him!" Hoteye spoke to himself while looking up to the giant pillar of light. He noticed how it disappated and the ground started to shake.

"What's happening?" Natsu turned to see the light fade away and the ground crumble. Eventually it felt like they were ... ascending.

"What did you do?" Natsu looked over at Brain, who was smirking.

"I completely released Nirvana!" He spread his arms wide when they were looking over large ruins of a city.

"What the heck is all this?" Erza asked aloud.

"This is Nirvana." Brain answered simply.

"Now I'd like you to get out of here." Before they could react they were blasted from the giant turtle city. Natsu caught his allies in mid-air and made sure they all landed safely, using fire thrusters at the bottom of his feet.

"Natsu!" He turned to see who caused the sound of his name. It was the group of mages that came to support him.

"What the heck is that?!" Gray pointed at Nirvana.

"THAT is what we came here for ..." Natsu growled.

"Nirvana?" Hibiki questioned, Natsu confirmed with a nod.

"We won't let you interfere with Oracion Seis' actions!" Someone screamed behind them. They all turned to see almost an army of dark mages.

"Crap ..." Eve muttered.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Sherry gasped.

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOU!" Natsu roared.

"Crimson Lotus: Phoenix bombardement!" The dragon slayer created a giant vertical magic circle above the enemy dark guilds. It wasn't long until crimson flame phoenixes dropped from the magic circle upon the dark guilds, already clearing out many of them with only a single combustion. After all the mages were on the ground with burn marks all over their body Natsu canceled his magic. The group behind him stared at the power Natsu had just shown. The fire mage was gasping for air and didn't stand solid on both legs. It didn't take him long before he fell to his knees.

"Natsu, are you okay? That must've taken a lot out of you." Erza rushed to his side, together with Gray.

"It's... nothing." Natsu muttered before his face met the ground.

"How often is this guy gonna drive himself out of magic power?" Gray stood over Natsu's unconscious body.

"We don't have time to worry about that right now, we can only trust that Natsu is strong enough to recover by himself and follow us later on." Jura spoke while motioning them to move.

"Are you sure we can take them without Natsu?" Hibiki quesitoned their battle strength.

"We won't know until we try, we can't always depend on Natsu, can we?" Jura returned a question.

"I'll stay with him, I'm not useful in battle anyways. I'll make sure and see what I can get on Nirvana while you guys are in there." Jura nodded, soon Hibiki was left alone with Natsu's unconscious body.


	34. Chapter 34

So sorry for not being able to update recently. I've been really busy with some stuff, that includes beta reading actually. I literally spent 8 hours straight beta reading last night. But I hope you won't be so mad at me :C Also we reached 200 reviews and 100 followers! Wooh thanks y'all! You have my eternal gratitude and love. I want to believe that we are all a family which is why I refer to the story as 'we'. So cuddles and stuff are allowed :) Anyways going on to the chapter now, y'all have been forced to wait so long. Sad face, I really do try though. Thanks again for all the support that I've been given, now get readin'!

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"So Jura, I assume you'll take charge of the situation here?" Erza ran next to the wizard saint.

"I believe so." Jura spoke, showing no sign of emotion.

"How do you think we'll take them? Natsu's the only one that managed to fight alone, even against multiple. But we need help if we want to face even one of them." Erza questioned their battle strength, Jura placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure we can do this, Erza. Have a little more faith in your allies." The earth wizard reassured her, she nodded with a smile and kept running. The group arrived at one of the legs that Nirvana had, it being a giant octopus body with city ruins as it's torso. One by one the mages climbed up until they were capable of standing.

"When we get in there, we should capture at least Brain consciously. We have no idea how to shut this thing down, so leave him to me. We can't rely on Hibiki to find out how this entire structure works." Jura recieved nods from all around him, agreeing on what he had just said. They spurted to the entrance of the ruined city. Upon entering, they had decided to split up in small groups to fight the enemy.

Jura wandered off with Wendy, since he had the highest battle strength of them all right now he would be beter off with someone that could support him rather than throw their magic in with his own. Erza went with Mirajane, since the two aces of Fairy Tail were very familiar with eachother's powers. Gray went with Lyon and Sherry, the two ice mages had known eachother for very long and Sherry simply wouldn't leave Lyon's side. Ren, Eve and Ichiya stuck together to make the last group. They all were wandering through the city while Jura aimed for the central palace where Brain most likely was.

Brain was watching over the city with Angel, Cobra and Midnight behind him while one of the links on his face vaporized.

"Seems like Hoteye has fallen too." He informed the others with slight agitation.

"I don't think they would take him out while he could've given them information." Angel reasoned.

"With Nirvana around, he was probably not beaten by them. He was just turned against us, most likely." Brain countered. The expression on the dark mages' faces changed with that information.

"We can't let the ones that have fallen stand in our way, show no mercy when you come across him." Brain stamped his staff on the ground. The others looked up and nodded. It had gotten dark, which is why Midnight was awake. When Brain stamped his staff once again they spread out and went to fend off the invaders.

Jellal made his way through the forest, he'd just woken up without a trace of anyone around. He figured he still had his debt to pay so he went to search for the Fairy Tail members. While walking he started to gain vision, vision of his past. He saw what happened between him and Natsu, him and Erza, him and the group of the Tower of Heaven. After he realized it was his past self he almost crumbled in disgust of himself. Was he really that much of a monster? Then he remembered what the 2 guards had brought him to. He remembered how Zered had talked to him and done something to him. Jellal realized he was being controlled by Zeref. He could never see Zeref suffer enough for making him hurt his friends so much. Jellal promised to himself he'd make Zeref pay, and he would do it with Fairy Tail. He was happy to know that even though he was such a monster in the past, Natsu was still willing to give him a second chance.

"I won't waste it, I promise you that..."' He whispered.

Natsu started to grumble, to which Hibiki took notice.

"Natsu, are you awake?" Hibiki turned while still letting his fingers roam over his digital construction.

"Mira, untie me already. They're calling for me." Natsu muttered while turning around in his position. Hibiki just sweat dropped with a poker face while hearing that.

'What kind of demon is she?' The player thought until Natsu opened his eyes and rubbed his head.

"Hm? Oh hi, Hibiki. Um ... Where are we?" Hibiki took one finger away from his magical keyboard to point at Nirvana, which was standing before them.

"Everybody went without me?" The archive mage nodded.

"I gotta go and help them." But before Natsu could get up, Hibiki pushed him down again.

"You used an extremely powerful attack back there and you haven't recovered. You need to sit down and have faith in the rest. We can't always rely on you to save the day, Natu." Hibiki assured him. Natsu grumbled and laid back down.

"What're you doing?" The fire mage asked eventually after noticing Hibiki was very busy.

"Looking into the giant thing before us." He said without looking away from his screen.

"Gotten anythign useful?" Natsu asked.

"Seems like there's a lacrima connected to each of those legs. I assume it's using it's legs to suck magical power from the earth and loads it into those lacrimas. How that power will be used, I don't know yet." Hibiki answered.

"Then to shut it down, all we need to do is destroy those lacrimas, right?" Natsu turned to face him.

"Not as simple as that. The damn thing seems to be able to repair itself, we need to destroy all of them at once if we want to stop it from regenerating." Hibiki countered his simple reasoning.

"Then we just split up and do that, right?" Natsu asked again.

"It seems to be that way, but I wanna be sure before I inform the others on this." Hibiki informed him.

"That makes sense, can I help with anything?" Natsu nodded and offered.

"Actually, would you happen to know what this is?" Hibiki pointed at a certain segment. Natsu took a closer look and narrowed his eyes.

"Zoom in a bit...more...think that's fine." Natsu's eyes widened.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen that before, and if I have, it's no joke." Natsu took a serious tone, making Hibiki worry.

"We need to check up on this, ready to follow me?" Natsu turned to the archive mage.

"Follow where?" He gulped, the dragon slayer turned and opened the door to the land to the fire dragons.

"In there." Natsu pointed at the door that slowly opened, revealing a land of burning rocks and lava.

"Don't worry, with me around you won't burn to death." Natsu pulled him in. When a few dragons noticed, they cheered for the arrival of their lord. Word quickly reached the most ancient of them all as this dragon greeted Natsu when he came to the castle.

"Welcome, my lord. We are honored by your arrival." They all bowed to him.

"No need for the formalities, Cylophlax. We don't have much time, I need to use the library immediatly." Natsu explained the reason for their arrival.

"Right this way." Cylophlax lead them to the dragon archive. After spending severeal tens of minutes looking, Natsu could find it.

"Hibiki, over here!" The archive mage turned and ran towards Natsu.

"you see this?" Natsu pointed at a picture in the book.

"That looks exactly like Nirvana." He noticed.

"Exactly, because it IS Nirvana. Apparently before the dragon disappeared it used to be a war machine to be used against the dragons. And this right here." Natsu pointed at something specific in the picture.

"I couldn't figure out what that was." Hibiki sounded slightly disappointed. Natsu lowered his finger to the footnotes under the picture.

"They are encryptions and runes for dragonslaying magic. I believe Nirvana might still have a lot of dragonslaying magic inside of it. Do you know what that means?" Natsu asked his partner, who shook his head.

"You might already know that dragonslayer magic is rather powerful and destructive. If all that ancient magic were to suddenly be released ..." Natsu awaited Hibiki to finish his sentence.

"Then that could cause the destruction of half Fiore." Natsu nodded.

"How can we stop that?" Hibiki asked the dragon slayer.

"There's only one thing we can do." Natsu closed the book and put it back where it belonged. He quickly rushed back to the doors he himself had opened with Hibiki right behind him.

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Sweet! I got that done, I really liked this actually. I guess I just really enjoy it when I suddenly get an idea and I make a little twist like this one. It's really refreshing and because like I said, I have no idea what I'm doing with this and just write whatever pops up, it always is a surprise for myself as well. So that's always fun to see :) Anyways I hope this was good enough, see y'all with the next chapter in which the battle with Oracion Seis will presumably and finally be over. Peace out!


	35. Chapter 35

Got another one out, not the follow up on the plot twist that I did last chapter but that'll be in the next one. This one's just gonna be fights, I hope they won't disappoint! Pretty short too but it still took me like 4-5 hours. I lose my concentration easily :/ Ah well. Hope y'all enjoy and I'll be sitting back now and watch vids/read stuff/kill other people in games. That is my plan, there is obviously nothing wrong with that ... I am not a psychopath, I promise! :D I'll be going now *slowly leaves the room* But don't forget to lock your door! Some people might ... take advantage of that *whink*

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The groups that were spread out across Nirvana had started meeting up with several Oracion Seis members, while others were still wandring around. Cobra looking down at the city from the air, noticing multiple groups of the enemy.

"They outnumber us greatly, but we still got the master. I doubt they can defeat him." He told himself before he descended.

'I think someone's following us, let's turn the corner and get the jump on him.' Cobra heard.

"Don't even try, you're not going to surprise me." He spoke loudly. Lyon, Gray and Sherry turned surprised to face their enemy.

"You're the one that poisoned Erza and Mira!" Gray pointed at Cobra. The poison dragon slayer shrugged.

"So what if I am?" This ticked Gray off.

"You'd be so dead if Natsu was here, but I guess I'll have to beat you up for him." Lyon smirked at the sound of that.

"Don't you forget about me." Sherry stared at him with eyes filled with hearts.

"I will fight with you, for LOVE!" Naturally she put a huge stress on the love, every man around sweatdropped at the sound.

"ROCK DOLL! Ice Make: ..." They all started their magic. Cobra strafed to the left to avoid the Rock Doll rising from the ground..

"EAGLE! LANCE!" Gray and Lyon casted their ranged spells, which Cobra dodged by descending and dashing over the ground at them. He spread his poison claws, Lyon and Gray managed to roll out of the way before Cobra could strike them. Sherry had been picked up by her rock doll and was now sitting on it's head.

"Ice Make: Geyser!" As soon as he recovered, Gray sent out an erupting path of ice across the ground. Before it could hit, Cobra swiftly ascended to higher up.

"Ice Make: Eagle!" Lyon prepared another ranged attack which stopped Cobra from ascending, instead he dove straight downwards again. Sherry'd doll went in for a hit from behind a building that Cobra again dodged. He was now circling around the doll's arm and getting closer to it's head. Before the snake's tail could grab Sherry Gray had fired his Ice Cannon to prevent him from doing so.

"Phew, thanks Gray!" Sherry shouted before she attempted another hit at the dragon slayer.

"We gotta coordinate better if we wanna beat him." Lyon told his allies, who both nodded. Both Lyon and Gray fired another salve of their ranged attacks to get Cobra moving the way they wanted.

"Ice Make: Ape!" Lyon created a giant ape of ice. Sherry's doll grabbed it by it's arm and started spinning. When she released the ape it was launched at Cobra, while the doll jumped up. Before the ape could slam down on him, Cobra had dodged in between it's legs.

"Ice Make: Hammer!" Gray created a giant ice hammer for Sherry'd rock doll. As Cobra escaped the ape he was slammed down by the giant hammer.

"Ice Make: Geyser!" Before Cobra could get up again, he was engulfed in the ice sent to him by Gray.

"We did it!" Sherry shouted.

"Well done, Gray." Lyon spoke while closing his eyes.

"Great job, everyone." Gray put his thumbs up.

"So I end up fighting women." Mirajane and Erza turned to see Midnight.

"The mage that was asleep." They both whispered.

"So you've noticed, I'm pretty much nocturnal." (totally not a reference to me, I promise)

"And so now you're awake, that's good. I'd hate to be the one waking kids from their slumber." Erza grinned.

"We'll see about that, I guess." Midnight remained still with his arms crossed.

"Mira, you st-" Erza turned to see a dark orb flying Midnight's way.

"Evil Explosion!" She shouted, folled by an explosion of darkness. Midnight was revealed, unharmed. There was some red aura around him.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't be wasting magic in this form then. Time to power up. Take Over: Dragon Soul!" Mirajane figured she'd need more than that and so she turned into her dragon take over.

"It's gonna take more than that to get me down." Midnight smirked, having not moved a single muscle.

"Is that so?" Erza brought both her blades before his neck. She had changed to her flight armor and rushed to his back during the explosion.

"yes, that is so." Midnight smirked. Erza's blade were pushed aside by an invisible matter. They had no idea what form of magic they were dealing with.

"Re-quip: Purgatory armor!" Erza's armor turned to one of her more powerful ones. She swung her giant fanged greatsword down at Midnight, but it got blocked. When he looked forward, a stream of fire was headed this way. In surprise, he quickly dodged to the right. Erza blocked the stream with her sword. Mirajane dashed to engage in physical combat with Midnight, but her blows got blocked.

"Moon Slicer!" Erza shouted after having changed to her purgatory armor. Again, Midnight was forced to dodge out of the way.

"You're annoying." He hissed at her. Midnight stretched his arm at Erza. Erza's armor started to fold around her body to contrict her.

"ERZA!" Mirajane shouted.

"Just ... hit him." She muttered. Mirajane breathed fire at Midnight, which he evaded. She leapt at him with her fists on fire. Midnight would not manage to dodge all of her blows, so he returned his magic to his defense. Erza was released by result.

"You two are pretty fast, though it's not enough against my magic." Midnight complimented the both of them.

"Your magic has weaknesses." Erza countered. Midnight behexed her armor again.

"And what're those?" He grinned, increasing the pressure on Erza's body.

"Your magic has a limited area of effect, when you were applying your magic on something like my armor you weren't able to block Mirajane's attacks." Erza started.

"That's it's biggest weakness. There's also this armor." Erza picked up again while she changed into her Robe of Yüen.

"It won't allow your magic to use it for my contraint." She explained while the armor regained it's normal composure. Midnight stared at the armor set and clapped.

"Seems like you got it all figured out." He suddenly got engulfed in a giant pillar of fire rising from the ground. Erza instantly stared to her left but saw Mirajane wasn't the cause of this.

"Don't forget getting caught off-guard." Natsu grinned when he materialized.

"Well that was ... anticlimatic." Erza stared at the charred body of Midnight. The dark mage turned with his clenched teeth and fists, preparing for a counter attack. Natsu however wouldn't let him and snapped his fingers, followed by another combustion of Midnight's body. After the fire revealed Midnight again, he caughed and fell to the ground.

"Natsu!" Mirajane leaped into his arms, followed by a kiss.

"Are you alright?" He immediatly asked.

"Of course I am, you are here." She smiled at him.

"Excuse me, but we got somewhere to be." Hibiki broke their reunion.

"Right ..." Natsu nodded.

"What's going on?" Erza asked.

"We'll explain along the way."


	36. Chapter 36

I have a question for you guys today. I've been looking at my title, and it's actually entirely based on the very first chapter of this story since you all know I had no idea where I was going when I started. Should I change it? If so, to what? Leave suggestions if you got any, thanks! Ok now that we got that out of the way, let's get my chapter out, shall we? This one's a pretty long one as it's the end of this arc, wooh! Took me really long to write to(someone popped up that I really wanted to talk to) Alright let's get readin'!

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"You're saying this thing will blow half of Fiore if we get it down?" Erza tried to capture what she had just heard. Natsu and Hibiki nodded.

"Basically." Hibiki confirmed her reasoning.

"What do we do about it?" Mirajane asked.

"Leave it up to me!" Natsu grinned.

"How will you deal with it then?" Erza asked with concern.

"You'll see when we get there..." Natsu quickly dodged the question, to which Mirajane took notice.

"Can I call you ... nee-san?" Eve took Angel's hand upon the question.

"I hope you don't like the way I put my hair, since it's not like I put it like that for you..." Ren walked up behind her. Angel burst out in laughter.

"The only people that deserve my love are angels, do you present yourselves as such?" Angel stared at them while having her hips supporting her fists and leaning forward.

"Some people like to call us that, care to test that out?" Ren smoothly closed the distance between them.

"You are not worthy of such delightful term. I must now obliterate you for shamelessly acting as such devoted creatures." She jumped away and started summoning.

"Gemini, Enter the gate which I open for thee!" She spoke the words who were followed by the appearance of the twin spirits.

"At the cost of 40, I summon an angel from the heavens. Hoping for them to accept my miserable offer, and aid me in my battle." She spoke while throwing the coins in the air.

"Shamsiel!" At the calling of his name, the watcher angel appeared.

"Gemini, copy!" She called out the order, by which Gemini took the shape of Shamsiel.

"A second me, how pleasant!" Shamsiel looked at his copy.

"Have your way with them." Angel deviously ordered.

"This'll be fun!" Shamsiel charged at the mages in front of him.

"Men! What has better parfume than an angel? Will the two of you help me to analyze and gain this parfume for myself?" Ichiya turned to look at his disciples.

"Yes, senpai!" Both of them shouted in unision.

"Ren, Eve, follow me into battle!" Ichiya took a sniff of one of his many parfumes, which immediatly gained him muscle and strength beyond belief.

"MEN!" He charged at the angel, engaging in a close combat fight.

"You might not want to do that..." Angel whispered from a distance. As Shamsiel and Ichiya's fists clashes, the muscles body quickly was thrown aback.

"Such strength, it's parfume must be amazing!" Ichiya excitingly brought out after regaining his balance.

"White Fang!" Eve brought out a surge of snow after the copy of Shamsiel.

"Aerial cutter!" Ren fired multiple slices of air at his opponent. Both the attacks seemed to not even phase the body of the giant angel.

"Doesn't that tickle?" The real Shamsiel turned to his copy, Gemini nodded in response.

"Well, that's gonna be annoying..." Eve muttered.

"Need some help?" They heard a familiar voice shout. They turned to see Hibiki, Natsu, Erza and Mirajane run their way.

"You recovered?" Ren asked, the dragon slayer nodded.

"Then we could definitely need the help, these guys seems very resistant." Eve informed them.

"No problem, we'll take these guys out, no sweat!" Natsu excitedly spoke.

"Says the fire mage ..." Ren countered, to which a couple giggled.

"Are they laughing at my body now? Is it because I'm fat? I AM NOT FAT!" Shamsiel shouted, preparing a magical attack. He gathered energy, when he was charged, he released it in the form of light from the noses in his hair.

"Down!" Natsu shouted and pushed Mirajane to the ground. The rest followed his example and watched the light come their way. When they noticed the impact didn't come, they looked up to see Gray and Lyon behind an ice wall.

"Sup." Gray simply smiled down at them as he helped Natsu up.

"Hiya, we owe you one!" Natsu grinned.

'What? Where's the Ice Princess part?' The trimen thought in a similar fashion.

"Let's clean this fight up quickly and head over to Jura." Natsu told the others, whom all nodded.

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Shamsiel ate the fireball to the face, which was quickly followed up by an ice cannon. Natsu breathed his fire while flipping behind the ice bolt for an additional effect. Shamsiel was staggered by the follow-up attacks and fell on his butt.

"Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu unleashed his barrage of flaming fists on Shamsiel's face while Gray...

"Ice Blade: Seven Slice Dance!" The Ice Blade flurry was launched at Shamsiel's stomach. With that, Shamsiel fell to the ground. When Erza was about to take another hit at the copy, it changed form to Gemini. She only smirked at the easier opponent and quickly finished it off before it could do anything.

"Now for the actual enemy..." Mirajane's demonic voice echoed behind Angel. She turned with sweat to face the wrath of a female demon(Just specifying because a female's is much worse than a male's, trust me).

"And that makes 3, Racer is already taken care of and Hoteye's at camp. Let's get to Jura!" Natsu waved his way and ran, while the rest followed him.

"So you are the ones that decided to aim for the core..." Brain spoke, noticing the intruders.

"You can't win this fight, just give it up now!" Jura yelled at him.

"Giving up is no way to lose, boy. Now let's get this over with, I have a city to move." Brain assumed his fighting stance.

"Are you ready, Wendy?" Jura asked his partner while preparing himself, she nodded while glaring at Brain. The dark mage threw a simple Dark Capriccio at them, looking at the result. It was simply blocked by a rock wall. Brain followed up by teleporting behind him and unleashing a zero slash. Wendy had finish casting Vernier on Jura and using the speed, he dashed above his enemy while evading his attack. Jura motioned his gather index fingers and middle fingers upwards to his chest in a cross gesture, making small rock pillars join into Brain's middle, holding him in place. Jura followed up be gathering rocks in the air and making them rain down on his enemy, who teleported away.

"Quite some skills there." He simply complimented Jura.

"Dark Capriccio: Scream!" The man shouted before condensed dark magic left his staff.

"Iron Rock Wall!" Jura rose a rock wall to his defense, which seemed to not last long.

"Iron Rock Wall: Continuous Formation!" Jura summoned many rock walls in a straight line to block the powerful attack. Brain teleported to sneak on Wendy and capture her, Jura however managed to interfere with the attempt as his highly advanced senses allowed him to know exactly where Brain moved to and summoned rocks to Wendy's defense. While Jura kept launching rocks at him he kept Brain still with pillars of earth. In his defenseless state Wendy fired a Sky Dragon Roar at him. After Brain was extremely dazed Jura decided to release his most powerful spell.

"Supreme King Rock Crush!" A mountain of rocks piled on the dark mage. After he was completely engulfed in rocks Jura initiated the second phase of the spell and summoned two hands which crushed the piller with huge force. Brain was left unconscious.

"Heeeey! Looks like we missed the action." Natsu shouted at them from afar.

"He wasn't particularly tough, I wonder if this is really the end of it all." Jura looked down at the dark mage.

"You did well, Jura. Take the win and don't question it." Natsu patted the Wizard Saint on his shoulder.

"Oh it's not done, not by a long shot." The staff spoke as it seemed to stand up.

"Um ... Did that thing just talk?" Gray pointed at the staff, being extremely confused.

"My name is Klodoa, I'm the seventh member of Oracion Seis. You haven't fought the master yet, and when you do you can trust the fact that you won't win." Klodoa announced.

"What do you mean, your guild master? He's right there, flat on the ground!" Natsu countered.

"That's not our guild master..." Klodoa snickered. They all looked at Brain and noticed the final Bio-links fading away. When this happened it seemed like a huge pressure was released from his body.

"W-What's happening?" Erza and the rest questioned as the floor trembled.

"The master is awaking..." Klodoa explained. They all looked at the source of the pressure. Brain's skin turned pale and his hair went wilder. When he opened his eyes, they were red. When Brain stood up he stretched out.

"Feels nice to not be sealed away." He jokingly spoke.

"Yes, master. It's good to see you again." Klodoa obediently spoke.

"It seems you were useless enough to make me have to wake up again." Brain spoke before he crushed the staff with his feet.

"Wh-What just happened?" Gray confusidely spoke.

"My name is Zero, I am the Oracion Seis guild master." Zero explained.

"Two personalities... I knew it wasn't all there was to it." Jura muttered.

"So if you go down, it'll finally be over, bring it!" Natsu grinned.

"Whoah there, kid. Why don't you go burn some trees instead of messing with stuff you don't wanna get involved with." Zero joked, ticking Natsu off. The fire mage went in for a simple fist attack but was slapped away by Zero. An Ice Saucer from Gray followed with a Fire Breath by Mirajane joined with a Moon Slicer from Erza came his way. All of them were unable to hit him because of his his Dark Negation(the shield).

"Dark Gravity!" Zero slammed his hand down on the ground, making it crumble beneath all the mages but Natsu who was further away. They all fell down in a room with a giant lacrima on top of a pillar and a giant hole that seemed to go outwards. Natsu quickly followed them down, being thrown by Zero. When he crushed the floor, Zero landed down in the room as well. Jura launched a multiple pillars at him, followed by Gray's Ice Lances. Zero dodged these but met Natsu's flaming fist as a result. He was caught off-guard by the attack which was quickly followed by Mirajane's flaming fist in his back which knocked him up. Then there was Eve's White Fang, Ren's Aerial Slicer, Wendy's Roar, Natsu's Roar, Mirajane's Roar, Erza's Photon Slicer, Gray's Lances, Jura's rocks and Lyon's eagles. After taking this devestating attack Zero looked angered at them. He growled and released a powerful spell.

"Dark Rondo..." He started gaining magical energy in his hands, which looked to resemble horrified faces. As he started gaining more power his magic energy started to surge.

"Meet your demise." He spoke as he swing his hands at the group, the dark light blinded them as the attack hit, knocking them all to the ground. When they all slowly started to regain consciousness of the events, it seemed like they had all suffered severe damage. Natsu looked to his left to see Mirajane lie next to him, she was slowly opening her eyes.

"Mira, can we try?" She looked questioning at him.

"Can we do it?" She returned a question.

"There's nothing else to do, I'm sure we can pull it off!" He grinned at her, giving her confidence. They crawled up to their knees and joined hands while closing their eyes. A magic circle appeared beneath them, charging up their magic energy. Everybody slowly crawled up and saw the display. Zero noticed this and charged at them, though not in time.

"Unison Raid: Chaos Firestorm!" They spoke simultaniously. Magic circles with the fire dragon symbol on it appeared around Zero, spitting a combination of fire and lava at him while multiple lava eruptions from the ground occured around him. The burn marks on his body became lethal, he started to scream from the intense heat. When the barrage has stopped and his skin was almost completely charred he charged at them again, but was pulled flat on the ground by fiery chains. When he looked skywards he saw a giant fiery meteorite crashing down on him.

"Chaos Meteor..." The two mages whispered. As the meteor crashed into Zero, it exploded in a fiery explosion. It revealed Zero's unconscious body when it was no longer visible.

"Remind me to not piss those two off..." Gray told the others while looking into the crater at Zero.

"I'm guessing Mirajane's unavailable guys ..." Hibiki notified his fellow trimen.

"You bet she is." Natsu hugged her closer.

"So now we gotta get this thing ... out of service." Erza looked up at the lacrima.

"There's seven more of them, we gotta destroy them simultaniously." Hibiki explained.

"Then let's get to it." Gray brought his fists together.

"Natsu, what about ..." Hibiki started to ask but was silenced.

"I told you I'd deal with it, now let's do this!" He raised his fist, everybody spread out until they all arrived at a lacrima.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"DO IT!" Hibiki told them all. The lacrimas were smashed into oblivion and they al heard Nirvana crumble to the ground. They all made their way out, Mirajane was last.

"Where's Natsu?" She asked, noticing how everybody was staring. Gray pointed above Nirvana, Natsu was floating above his magic circle.

"What's he doing?!" She asked, the group shook their heads. They could hear Nirvana getting ready to explode.

"What's happening? Is this what you told us about, Hibiki?" Mirajane turned to him.

"Yes, Nirvana's getting ready to blow." He sighed out. Surprising many of the mages.

"While Natsu was with me, he helped me figure out something I couldn't quite decipher. It appears Nirvana used to be a Dragon warmachine, containing Dragon Slayer magic by result. As we all know such magic is extremely destructive and Nirvana still had much of it encraved in it's body." The Archive mage explained.

"Then what does he intend to do?" Erza asked.

"I don't know, he didn't tell me. All we can do is hope he isn't being reckless." Hibiki answered. They all looked up at Natsu and prayed. While Nirvana was nearly bursting, Natsu created a sphere of fire around it. This blocked it from vision but was intended to guide the explosion into his magic circle. Then it came, they could hear it as if it was a nuclear bomb. Nirvana had just exploded, the fire seemed to have much trouble containing it as it barely didn't shatter apart. But Natsu managed to contain it. As the magic energy made contact with his magic circle, he started absorbing the energy. He was quickly engulfed in a giant purple, transient flame. When he started to overflow, he breathed a large firestream of the same flame outwards and a large white pillar rose up from his circle. It consisted out of raw energy and was visible all the way from Magnolia, where people started questioning the large beam of light. It took quite some time before all the magical energy of Nirvana had been used by Natsu, but eventually his fire dimmed down and the explosion silenced. When he came down he was still ignited in the flame.

"Looks like it worked out. I'm thinking this is the spectral flame." He spoke while showing the transient flame hovering above his hand. He dowsed the flames when Mirajane rushed in his arms.

"Don't ever do something like that again!" She cried in his chest.

"No promises." He smiled.


	37. Chapter 37

Sorry for the late update. I've taken the liberty of a small hiatus last week, had a lot of beta reading to do as you all may know. If you've ever heard of the story 'The salamander rises' that's the one I'm beta reading right now, so if you've read it already you might wanna go back and watch the result after I'm done with it(which is not yet) :) Though I also just wanted a little break, the pressure of uploading the chapters as frequent as I do and trying so hard to get it done every night isn't quite laughable. Thanks to all of you for your patience! Btw about the title, I think I'll just keep it as it is. Many seem to have grown accustomed to it and I myself experience a sense of nostalgia by it :) Anyways so that'll be it for the title of the story until the very end. My sleep schedule changes so often, it circulates. Now my average wake up time is 9pm. Moving on, we're finally out of the Oracion Seis arc! It'll be a small filler now and then I'll be skipping Edolas to Tenrou, I believe. That sounds like a plan, let's get going!

* * *

When they returned to the village that held the Caithshelter guild, the alliance discovered that it was all an illusion created by the single survivor of the clan that was responsible for the sealing of Nirvana. Wendy was crushed after knowing how the family she'd had for years was non-existant. Natsu had offered her a place in their family, which caught her off-guard but filled her with happiness nonetheless. Naturally she accepted his offer and they all left for Magnolia. When the beat up mages arrived at the town they were awaited by many citizens who questioned what they saw. They were surprised by the face they had seen the event and had not exactly thought of how to respond to a question like it. Hibiki decided to tell everybody up front what had happened, how a dark guild was using a terrible magic artifact for evil, how they had been defeated by the alliance, and how Natsu had saved most of Fiore.

"You're saying we owe our lives to this kid?" A man pointed at the pink-haired fire mage.

"And many others do." Hibiki nodded, which was quickly followed by cheers and Natsu being lifted and carried around the city. After finally being able to return to the guild hall, the alliance spread out and went their own ways. Wendy joined the guild and earned a blue Fairy Tail guid mark on her shoulder. Makarov had welcomed the five mages home and was surprised by how the mission had gone.

"At least my brats managed to succeed in the mission without any fatal injuries, I'm proud. I hope nothing was destroyed that I need to pay for?" Makarov raised an eyebrow while he asked.

"Actually, Natsu prevented destruction instead of causing it this mission." Erza carefully informed the master.

"Ah, I guess it was to be expected. How much is the repa...Wait... WHAAAAAAT?!" He yelled out loud. After Makarov was informed of the recent events, he glanced at Natsu. The master could see the fire mage slowly chugging down his hot drink.

"Does anybody else know of this?" Makarov turned to Erza again.

"Hibiki informed the citizens upon our arrival." She replied, Makarov grumbled when he heard that.

"I wonder what this'll cause once it gets out..." He muttered before wandering over to the bar. Natsu turned his attention to the seat to his left which was now taken by the master.

"Hey there, gramps! We managed to complete the mission, just as you asked." The fire mage showed his toothy grin to the master, who smiled.

"I'm proud of you, boy. It wouldn't surprise me if the king himself would want to thank you in person." Makarov patted Natsu's shoulder. The mage grunted at the sudden small force applied on his body, Makarov smiled and apologized. Natsu had now managed to consume every kind of drink and food that was brought to him by Mirajane, who was still worried about him.

"Shouldn't you be getting some rest right about now?" Mirajane held his hand in her own.

"I think everybody should..." Natsu sighed, he didn't know what the expect for the next few days. Mirajane supported him on their way home.

"Natsu, you should really be watching yourself a bit more. You could end up real bad if you keep this up..." Mirajane lectured him.

"Isn't what I did good? I'd gladly sacrifice myself if I got to save just you, but now there were a million lives at stake." The fire mage countered.

"Y-Yeah, I just don't want anything bad happening to you." Natsu cupped her cheek into his hand and force her to look at him.

"Don't worry about me so much, I'll be fine. I won't leave you as long as I can do anything about it." He pulled her in a hug, it seemed that Mirajane was relying more on Natsu to carry her until it felt like she wasn't even trying to stand anymore. When Natsu looked down he noticed she was asleep, before he could question why he met the eyes of Mystogan to his right.

"Natsu... I didn't expect you to be here, and awake, no less." He muttered.

"What're you doing here, Mystogan?" Natsu questioned, it seemed unreasonable for him to just show up in the middle of the street while executing his sleeping spell.

"Ugh, I guess I have no choice then. There is no time to explain, but what's about to happen is explained in this letter." Mystogan handed him a sealed envelope.

"Feel free to read it to the whole guild or keep it to yourself, but I won't be around anymore..." Natsu was intructed. Mystogan walked away from him to the central park, Natsu followed him with Mirajane on his back. He was curious about what Mystogan was about to do. When he arrived Mystogan stood in the center of an open grass field, he seemed to be awaiting something. It seemes like the weather was turned heavily, clouds had quickly grouped up above the city. They created a spiral, heavy wind rushed through the city out of nowhere.

"The hell?" Natsu held onto his scarf and laid Mirajane down by a tree, he watched Mystogan while holding onto her. From the center of the spiral something seemed the descend, a magical vortex. Mystogan pulled out his staves and positioned them for a spell for which he was preparing a lot of magical energy, Natsu could tell. Before the vortex could strike down on the earth, Mystogan countered with his own stream of purple magical energy which was generated by five magic circles set up skywards in a straight line. There was a short fight of pushing and pulling in-between, but eventually there came a blinding light. When Natsu lowered his hands to look at the same grass field, everything had disappeared. Mystogan, his staves, the grass in the circle he had stood, the clouds, everything. He sighed and thought everything was gone, and before question it he would just go home and rest. He stood up and picked Mirajane up, until he noticed something in the distance. He looked at the grassless ground where Mystogan had stood, and seemed the recognize the shape of a person.

"Did she get caught in the crossfire?" He wondered when he recognized it was a woman. After rushing to the body his eyes widened as he froze. The woman body before him he could recognize is Lisanna Strauss'.

"H-How is ... this possible?" He collapsed on the spot. Natsu fell to his knees and had to rely on his hands to keep his face from reaching the ground. He soon overfowed with tears by the memories that came back.

"N-Natsu ... What just happened?" Mirajane walked up from behind him, as soon as she recognized the girl before him she fell in the same state as him. Then they noticed Lisanna's fingers twitch and heard her moan. They averted their attention from each other to her as they watched her open her eyes slowly.

"Ugh, what happened? Oh, hi Natsu! Sis, when did you both get those marks?" Lisanna raised her body and pointed at their mating marks. Both of them froze again when they saw Lisanna sit up.

"Uh, did I say something wrong? Hello?" She waved in front of them.

"You're ... alive?" They both whispered.

"Huh? What kind of question is that? Where are we anyways?" She looked around.

"We're in Magnolia..." Natsu ignored the freaky situation and responded.

"Wait, Magnolia... That means... I'm back? You all thought I was dead?" She tried to think. They nodded.

"What happened? We seriously thought you had died." They decided to let Lisanna sleep in their house for that night and warn everyone the other day. On their way home, they got to hear from Lisanna how she was actually sucked into a parallel universe much different from ours. How there were counterparts of everyone from 'Earthland, wich is apparently their world, and 'Edolas', which was the parallel world. They couldn't help but laugh at how Natsu's counterpart was a badass at driving but was the first one to chicken out of a fight.

"The two of you can sleep in the bed, I'll take the couch." Natsu told them while he guided Lisanna towards the bedroom.

"Goodnight, Natsu." Mirajane waved at him before closing the door.

"Sis, why do you live with Natsu? And since when does he have a king sized bed?" Lisanna asked he bluntly while sitting on the bed. Mirajane's face turned red as she started to stutter.

"O-Oh... Well ... Y-You see ... We uhm ... Like ... The two of us ... Are ..." Lisanna's poker face wasn't helping the situation for Mirajane.

"Together?" She asked.

"Y-Yes..." Mirajane gave in.

"I suspected as much." Lisanna smiled at her sister.

"You're not mad?" Mirajane asked surprised.

"My sister found a great guy that she's happy to be with, why would I be mad? The two of you were together quite often last time I remember." She reassured her sister.

"Well, I thought you liked him as well." Mirajane looked down.

"I kinda did, though seeing him as a coward for two years doesn't necessarily help hte situation... And besides, he's taken right now." Lisanna whinked at her before she turned her back and started to undress. Mirajane smiled and joined her in bed. They kept talking about what had happened in the past few years and how the guild's doing, Lissanna was surprised to hear about Natsu's endeavors.

"I guess he really was meant for greater stuff..." She muttered.

"It appears so, he's impressed a lot of people. You should've seen him with Phantom Lord, I don't think he was ready to lose anyone else. Phantom Lord left with their tails between their legs." Mirajane giggled.

"So what are those marks you got?" Lisanna pointed at Mira's collar bone.

"Oh, that's our mating mark." She smiled at her sister.

"It happened when Igneel died and Natsu absorbed his soul. We can truly be dragon mates since we both have the souls of dragon mates inside of us. Igneel gifted me the soul of his mate, which I can now take over." Mirajane explained.

"A dragon take over, that sounds so cool!" Her sister brought out.

"Yeah, but now I think it's time we should sleep. I think you'll get a lot of attention tomorrow..." Mirajane whinked and turned her back to Lisanna, who seemed oblivious to the message and did the same. The night went by fast, and breakfast was as delicious as usual as it was made by Mirajane.

"How do you keep doing that?" Natsu sighed as he patted his satisfied stomach.

"Do what?" Mirajane turned to him.

"Surprise me with the best food I could dream of." He looked up. Lisanna chuckled at his talk.

"I must agree the food you make is really good, sis. When did you learn how to cook like this? Used to be where I had to help you out when you wanted to prepare something." She laughed.

"During the two year trip we had. Someone had to get us some food, and it certainly wasn't this guy or we would've eaten raw pork for dinner." Mirajane pointed at Natsu with her thumb.

"Hey, raw pork has it's charms!" Natsu countered, making the two girls laugh again.

"Anyways, let's get to the guild. I'm sure we'll get to see some funny faces once we get there!" Mirajane suggested.

"Yeah, I kind of want to see it too." Natsu stood up. When they walked through the streets they already got some funny looks from the bypassers, mostly because their new hero had an unfamilliar acquintance to some and to others it utterly amazed them as they recognized who it was. When they entered the guild with Natsu's casual announcement, they all turned to greet him back but froze on the spot at the sight of the silver haired woman.

"Are you for real?" Most asked.

"Hello everyone!" Lisanna brought out as innocently as she possibly could.

Lisanna!" Everybody lunged at her from where they were, she soon was covered by a pile of mages. With the loud yells, Makarov had left his study to check up on the guild hall.

"SILENCE, BRATS! I'm trying to work here!" He grunted and was about to return to his study until the face of Lisanna caught his eyes. The same reaction as every mage came from him.

"How are you, master?" She, again as innocent as she could, asked.

"I'm fine, dear. But what happened, how are you here?" He asked. After a thorough explenation of Natsu about the past events they all were fairly surprised by the message that was just passed down on them.

"So Mystogan knew about it all along? What's in that letter he gave you?" Gray asked.

"Don't know, I have yet to open it." Natsu flapped the envelope around while he said that, he then handed it to master Makarov who immediatly opened it.

"It explains all about Edolas. It appears the magic in that world was scarce and they stole it from our world using a spell that went by the name 'Anima'. Mystogan was Jellal's counterpart and the royal heir to the throne in that world." Makarov shared the contents of the letter. Everybody took a moment to let all the heavy news sink in, but were disturbed by the doors opening again.

"A letter for the master of the Fairy Tail guild!" A boy of the same age as most of them spoke aloud.

"Give it here, boy." Makarov held out his hand, the courier complied and gave him the letter before he turned around and exited the guild hall.

"WHAAAAAT?!" Makarov screamed out.

"What is it, gramps?" Natsu asked.

"Word has reached Crocus, it appears the king will come here to thank YOU personally." He pointed at Natsu, who pointed at himself in confusion.

* * *

I hope you all liked the way I dodged the Edolas arc, now next chapter the filler will continue! How are you all liking these longer ones? I don't promise them all the time, but they've just sort of happened for the last two chapters. I'm signing off for now, I'll see y'all in the next chapter!


	38. Chapter 38

I was like SUPER tired while writing this ... I hope that doesn't make for too much bad content. I didn't want to leave you guys out on another update after a whole week of nothing so I got it written nonetheless! This is probably gonna take forever with my yawning in between ... sigh. That's why it'll probably be a shorter one today, sorry about that :/

* * *

The day had passed by and everybody still had to grow accustemed to Lisanna's return. They were expecting someone of extreme importance to arrive in the humble city of Magnolia that day. The three were making their way to the guild hall, until Lisanna had made a bit of jewels she couldn't leave their house. When they arrived everything seemed to be in chaos. Makarov was throwing a whide variety of chores around for everyone to do, he seemed to be excited for today.

"Uhm, master?" Mirajane raised her hand in a concerning way. Makarov noticed them and immediatly turned to Natsu.

"Don't you think you should wear something more formal for the occasion, boy?" Makarov glared at him, Natsu glared right back.

"Don't get so hyped, gramps. I'm sure if he wants to speak to ME then he should speak to ME and not an image of me forced into a formal suit." Natsu countered, to which Makarov growled and just gave in. A few nervous hours went by as people grew impatient of the royal arrival, then it came.

"They've arrived!" They could hear from outside, the guild hall was quickly emptied as they all rushed outside. There was a very long line of guards before a very long and decorated car appeared. When the cart finally came to a stop, many guards lines up to form a small path to the building and horns were blown. The door opened and a tall, whide-shouldered man was revealed. As he exited the cart, he seemed to be accompanied by a green-haired girl of the same age as most of them. The pair slowly walked towards the guid, with many eyes on them. Natsu was located in the middle of all the mages. The king stopped before him, and looked down in him with an observant look.

"Might you be the Natsu Dragneel I've heard so much about?" The man raised an eyebrow. Natsu grinned and pointed at himself.

"That's me!" He was softly punched in his leg by Makarov when he did that, Natsu then realized and bowed properly before the man.

"Haha, I owe you a great deal, boy." The man laughed aloud and brought his hands to Natsu's shoulders.

"If what I've heard is really true, you deserve more than a simple reward. i'm very impressed that a mage as young as you are managed to pull off such a great feat." He turned around, assuming a thinking pose while looking at the sky.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Lautrec Fiore, as you may already now. This right here is my daughter, Hisui Fiore. The girl silently stepped forward and bowed to them, most had to admit that she was very pretty.

"Say, Natsu. How would you like a place in my squad of royal mages? It pays well as you are working for the palace, I could definitely use someone of your caliber." Many turned surprised at the sudden offer, but not Natsu.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I'll have to decline. For nothing in the world would I abandon this guild." He smiled as he raised his head.

"I see, but I must repay you somehow... I know, I'll let you and 4 other guests of your choice enjoy a stay at our castle for a week! I won't let you turn down this offer!" The man smacked his fist in his hand as he thought of the idea.

"Well I guess we'll do that then?" Natsu raised his shoulders, not having much of a choice.

"Very well, I shall remain in this city until the next day dawns. It should leave you and your comrades enough time to prepare as well as give me the time to enjoy being out of the castle with my daughter." He spoke as he walked away from the group. When they were inside the large vehicle Natsu could hear them talk.

"Is that really the man we've been hearing so much about, father?" Who Natsu assumed to be Hisiu asked.

"It appears so, if only there were more men alike. He's the kind that would be worthy of your hand." This brought a tint of red to Natsu's cheeks as he heard that. When he looked to his left, he saw Mirajane shaking and clenching her fists and teeth.

"Uh, Mira? Are you okay?" He assumed she heard it, but he hoped she hadn't nonetheless.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why would there be anything wrong?" She softly spoke as she regained her composure. It didn't take nearly as long for the king to leave as it took him and his daughter to arrive. When Natsu turned to face his guild, he noticed how they were all ready to jump him. Before they could he quickly raised his hands in a defensive position and closed his eyes.

"Mirajane! Erza! Gray! Wendy!" He shouted before he would suffocate under a pile of bodies. When he opened his eyes, he noticed how they all froze before they frowned in disappointment.

"M-Me?! Why would you pick me?" Wendy stuttered as she pointed at herself.

"Because you're one of us." Natsu patted her head and smiled, when she saw this she couldn't help but bring out her own grin.

"Alright, the five of you best prepare for tomorrow. Go home and start packing." Makarov motioned them to leave the guild. They all went home to do what they were ordered. When Natsu arrived at home he noticed Mirajane standing still in the center of the room.

"Is something wrong?" He asked concerned.

"That girl, she won't be ... a threat ... right?" The silver-haired woman muttered. Natsu smiled as he laid his current occupations on the sideline and moved towards her. When he stood before her he raised her chin with his hand.

"Mira, do you know what this means?" He asked while his index finger pointed at her mating mark.

"It means that we're in love?" She asked unsure, Natsu shook his head.

"I means more than that. It means that I am yours, as well as that you are mine. It means that I don't love anyone but you, as you only love me. it means that we're connected, something that no one can simply break or interfere with." He explained in a reassuring manner. When he noticed her eyes started to fill with water he pressed his lips up to hers.

"I love you, Mirajane. No one will take that away from me." He cupped her cheek and sweeped the tear away with his thumb.

"Now come on, we gotta pack." He guided her to the bedroom while holding her hand. It didn't take them a lot of time hence they didn't expect to be away for that long. Mirajane had to smile at the sight of the sleeping dragon slayer's face so close to her in bad. She could never grow tired of that face.

The next morning the five mages stood ready before the guild hall with their luggage. Erza seemed to have dimmed down on her usual mountain of unecessary gear. When they noticed the same long car arrive as the day beforehand they stood up. They were greeted by the large man that had the same cheerful expression as before had greeted them. When they stepped inside they were amazed by the space the vehicle had, it could easily hold 12 people without anyone lacking space. When they positioned themselves, obviously Natsu was next to Mirajane. When the ride started, Natsu went to sleep on Mirajane's lap. The take over mage noticed how the princess gave Natsu a glance every once in a while. She sighed while smiling, realizing Natsu wouldn't leave her. She looked down at him, at his sleeping face.

'This is gonna be a long ride...' She thought while letting her hand roam through his hair.

* * *

Alright, sorry if this is too short for your liking. I'd prefer to have this up overl eaving y'all with nothing yet again. I hope you appreciate my attempt and I think I should really go to bed now... Signing out!


	39. Chapter 39

Damn is it hard to get something going. Knowing what to expect from a canon arc is somethign different than building around one general idea and just making shit up as you go. Hm, let's see... We paste this here and put that there, if we then multiply this we got THE CHAPTER! Ok that was extremely rambly, I'm gonna shut up now ...

* * *

The ride sure did take them a while, then again they were traveling from Magnolia all the way to the center of Fiore. The whole time Natsu's sleepy face had been resting in Mirajane's lap, the rest was either looking at one another or out the many windows. Gray was watching the forest they were now passing through go by while Erza was observing the king and his daughter. The king himself was doing the same as Gray while the princess was taking a peek every once in a while at Natsu. Erza and Mirajane both noticed this, Erza could see how this agitated the silver-haired mage before her.

"Does the boy always sleep during times like these?" The king broke the silence.

"It seems to be a common thing for dragon slayers to suffer from motion sickness, this helps Natsu's calm down." Mirajane replied with a smile.

"I see, it's a good thing he has you to take care of him." He praised her, to which she returned a smile.

"We've been in this forest for a while now, it's larger than most are." Gray muttered.

"You would be correct, this forest is the largest in all of Fiore and well known for it's many dangers. These don't usually come close to the road, however. But if they do, we shouldn't have much trouble disposing of them with this many guards around." The large man explained.

"We're Fairy Tail mages, we can handle ourselves just find in combat." Erza strictly spoke, making her comrades sweatdrop.

"I wasn't implying that mages such as yourself would have trouble defeating them, I am merely assuring you that there will be no need for you to participate in any form of combat." The king quickly cleared up as he did not desire any kind of trouble with the scarlet-haired woman. Gray scoffled closer to the large man and leaned over to him.

"You probably want to avoid Erza's wrath, she's not nice when she's in cheesecake mode..." He whispered, making the man pull a confused look much to his own amusement.

"Will we get our own rooms?" Mirajane asked the man.

"I was going to ask you actually, what would you all prefer when it comes to that matter?" The king responded with a question.

"I would like to sleep with Natsu in one bed, I don't care of the rest is in the room with us or not." Mirajane smiled, making the rest scoffle back a bit.

"The rest of us most likely does not want to share a bed with anyone but I think it would be fore the easiest if we all were to sleep in the same room." Erza crosser her arms. Wendy started blushing.

"T-Together? All of us?" She stuttered.

"Is that a problem?" Erza glared down on her in the way only she could do, making Wendy instantly swallow her words and shake her head.

"Good, then it's settled." She broke her glare, Wendy was relieved by this. After a while more people had fallen asleep, they were all awoken at the same time.

"We're here!" The tall man yelled throughout the vehicle. The mages grumbles as they woke up.

"We made it?" Natsu stretched out.

"I think so." Mirajane sat up next to him. When they exited the cart they looked up at the gigantic castle the stood before them.

"I could get used to this." Gray commented.

"You better not, would spoil the experience." Natsu countered.

"How large is the pool around here?" The fire mage turned to the tall man.

"About a mile, why?" When he heard that, Natsu grinned. He turned to Gray, who understood what he meant.

"Be there in 15." Natsu smirked.

"You got it." The two mages fistbumped.

"I'll have someone guide you to your rooms, make yourself at home." The king spoke as he called someone over.

"What was that all about?" Mirajane asked as she laid her luggage on the bed.

"Hm, what was what about?" Natsu returned a question of his own.

"You being so friendly with Gray." She raised an eyebrow while unzipping the package.

"Huh? Oh, well I stopped calling him ice princess and he did the same." Natsu explained.

"YOU stopped calling HIM ice princess? Just like that?" Mirajane questioned.

"Yeah, something wrong with that?" He asked while he was shoving his clothing in the closet.

"It just sounds a litte unreal, that's all." She smiled.

"Whatever you say, I guess." He ignored the provocation.

'Could what master has said be true? He's really matured, but is it really because of me? I doubt it, he probably did it by himself...' Mirajane's train of thought crashed when Natsu's hands surrounded her stomach.

"I'm gonna go to the pool now, I'll talk to you later." He left a kiss on her cheek before taking off. The sudden touch of Natsu's naked torso had almost made her drool.

"Don't tell me you're that easy to contain, oh demon of Fairy Tail." She heard Erza say from her left. She growled and went back to unpacking.

"What took you so long?" Gray asked while he was being hit by a wave of water.

"Can't a man have a bit of fun with his girl before leaving her?" The fire mage asked as he ascended from the water.

"Heh, I guess so. Ready?" The ice mage asked, Natsu nodded.

"Ice Make: Pool!" Gray froze all of the water present in the extremely large container of water.

"Let's see you break this..." He smirked.

"Just watch me." Natsu smirked before turning ablaze. While spreading his fire underneath the ice, he yelled out. The fire erupted all at once, making huge chunks of ice ascend to the sky.

"And now the real fun begins..." Gray smirked while leaping up, cutting a cunk in half with his Ice Blades.

"Fire Dragon's Claw!" Natus kicked a block with his flaming foot after a somersault. Meanwhile the female members had also arrived.

"Ara ara, they're at it again." Mirajane chuckled.

"Might as well join them, it's good excercise." Erza brought two swords to her hands and leapt in the air, slicing multiple chunks in half.

"What do you say, Wendy? Should we join them?" Mirajane turned to the small girl next to her.

"Can I?" She nervously asked.

"Of course you can, c'mon!" Mirajane lifted her up while she had already assumed her take over.

"Just give it a shot." She told the sky dragon slayer.

"Roar of the Sky Dragon!" Wendy yelled before a wind vortex left her mouth, catching multiple ice blocks in it's way. Mirajane rushed forward, crashing through all the blocks Wendy had caught. Wendy fell in the water while watching Mirajane clear all the ice blocks. A butler arrived at the pool, catching their attention.

"Dinner is ready." He bowed to them.

"Dinner? Food? FOOD?!" Natsu ascended to the center.

"Fire Dragon's Crimson Nova!" Fire erupted from every part of his body, evolving into a fiery sphere that expanded. As it passed the ice chunks they were turned into water which rained down into the pool.

"Spoilsport.." Gray muttered.

"Hey ... Food!" Natsu countered, walking away from them and following the person that came to get them. They had all quickly changed into their average clothing and made their way to the dining room. It was a very long table that could seat many, yet was only taken by the people that had recently arrived. Natsu actually minded his etiquette for once, hence he knew who they were accompanied by.

"You mages sure know how to have fun." The king brought up.

"You bet!" Natsu threw his way.

"It's just a fun way of excercising." Erza humbly countered.

"I wish I could've joined in, it sure looked like a lot of fun." Hisui spoke up.

"You don't have any magic?" Natsu asked, she shook her head.

"I'm sure you can still do fun stuff without it, right?" He asked around the table, his companions nodded.

"Surely we can do stuff that does not require the usage of magic." Erza agreed. Hisui looked up happily, seeing they were willing to do stuff with her was already making her happy.

"Hisui doesn't usually get to be around a lot of people, there's only those annoying stuck up people that brag about how good they are." The king explained.

"Well we're definitely gonna make you have some fun!" Natsu excitedly yelled, making Hisui blush.

"well I think it's about time to go get some sleep. We arrived pretty late, and from what all of you were doing you must be pretty tired as well." The tall man suggested.

"Sounds good, we can see what to do tomorrow." Natsu agreed. They all left the table and explored the castle for a bit on their own. Natsu was looking up to a large painting of a grassland next to a mountain.

"Are you into art?" He looked to his left, noticing Hisui had asked the question.

"Not really, it's just that I grew up in an area much like this one." He returned his gaze to the painting.

"I heard you have a pretty rough story of your childhood, mind sharing it?" She asked, hoping she wasn't intruding.

"When I was very young, I was left alone in a forest. I was found by Igneel, a fire dragon. He raised me and taught me Fire Dragon Slaying magic." Natsu started explaining.

"A dragon raised you?" She asked surprised.

"Yep, that's what makes me a dragon slayer. Dragon Slayer magic is the only magic capable of even harming a dragon." He continued explaining.

"That sounds powerful." She commented.

"It's quite destructive. Anyways, so it was until I was 8 that I stayed with him. It was the 7th of July X777 when he just vanished for no reason. I woke up and there was no trace of him. After waiting two entire weeks I set out to find him. I stumbled upon Fairy Tail and ended up joining the guild." She looked at him, filled with amazement.

"Have you found him?" She asked. He looked down at the mark on his chest.

"Yes, I have. He is no longer alive in this world, but he lives on within me. You can take that quite serious. When he returned, he was about to die. As you know, Mirajane is a take over mage. She was given the soul of Igneel's dragon mate, mating is like marriage in the dragon world. When he died before my eyes, he asked me to absorb the fire that resembled his life force, his soul. In that way, he lives on within me. I can still talk to him. Because the souls Mirajane and me absorbed are connected, the bond they shared transferred to us. This mark resembles that bond, we are dragon mates." He covered the mark with his hand.

"I've never heard anyone with a story like yours, I'm sorry for intruding." She looked down.

"Hey, don't worry about it!" He put his hands on her shoulders and flashed his grin at her, cheering her up.

"Thanks .. for trusting me enough to tell me all that." She muttered.

"That's ... not really a big deal, you seem like a nice person to me." He smiled at her.

"Really?" She sounded surprised.

"Yeah, let's hang out tomorrow. But for now let's go to bed." He suggested.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then!" She cheerfully said her goodbye. They waved as they left to each's own room.

"What took you so long?" Mirajane asked as she felt someone enter the bed.

"Hisui talked to me. She asked why I was so interested in something, so I told her why." He explained.

"Hm, was it something about Igneel?" She guessed.

"Yeah, it was. Stop being so good at knowing stuff." Natsu growled, making her giggle.

"Fine, goodnight." She turned to face him.

" 'Night."

* * *

Ok so not much has happened yet, just some fun stuff. I don't know if I have anything serious planned, I guess we'll have to see about that in the future. I thank you all for reading, I am leaving now... bye.


	40. Chapter 40

Alright, I'm attempting a chapter today. Sorry for the long wait, however I'm feeling better. Hopefully I won't be disappointing people today with this. I flew to a different country to stay with some family too and that left me netless for a while, so that also stopped me from uploading. I hope it won't be a terrible chapter, I'll get to writing it now.

* * *

The day beforehand was one that went by rather quickly, the group spend most of their time on a ride that was filled with sleep for most. After that all that they got to do was have some fun in the pool, eat and wander around for a bit. The next day however, wouldn't be as short. This was announced properly by a yawn of our favorite dragon slayer.

"You're the one the slept the most yesterday, shouldn't you be the most energetic one out of all of us?" Mirajane turned and greeted him with a smile.

"That's like saying you should always cook because you're just better at it." Natsu countered and turned to her.

"But ... I do?" She replied, giving him a questioning look. Natsu looked up and widened his eyes, then turned away from her and pulled a blanket over himself.

"Forget I said anything..." He muttered, making the silver-haired maiden giggle.

"How could I ever..." She started and hugged his back.

"There's people watching, y'know." They suddenly heard an ice mage warn them. They both quickly sat up straight to look the staring group in the eyes. Natsu brought his hand to the back of his head and flashed a grin, making them all lower their shoulders.

"What'll we do today?" Wendy asked them all, making them think for a moment.

"We could ask Hisui to show us around the city a bit, I'm sure she knows tons of shortcuts and sneaky ways to get around." Natsu suggested, recieving a nod from many.

"Most likely, we did promise to do something with her yesterday." Erza agreed.

"We'll ask during breakfast, but we need to get there first." Mirajane added. Everybody returned to their own bed so they could prepare for the day. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the same table that had presented them with a fine meal the day beforehand.

"There are our guests, I assume there were no problems over the night?" The tall man gave them a warm welcome.

"Everything was fine, some might even say that we slept like butterflies." Mirajane chuckled and whinked at Natsu, making him blush slightly while whistling and turning his eyes away from her.

"I see, well then ... take a seat, please!" He motioned them to sit down, and so they did.

"You know, Gray. I think I might take back what I said, I could indeed get used to this." Natsu licked his lips as the food was revealed.

"I'm pleased to hear our effort is appreciated." He was told in response.

"It is we who are grateful for the hospitality we are recieving." Erza countered.

"You know we could keep flattering one another OR we could dig in..." Gray pointed at his plate, the reaction of everyone was to be expected.

"Yo, Hisui. We were wondering if you could show us around town, I'm sure you know your way to get around unnoticed..." Natsu looked at her without turning his head, she looked fairly surprised.

"Sure, I could do that." She smiled, recieving a thumbs up from Natsu.

"Great, I knew we could count on you!" She looked down with that compliment, attempting to hide her face. Her father laid his hand on her shoulder, bringing her out of her embarassment.

"Just make sure you have some fun, alright?" When she nodded he gently slapped her on the back of her shoulder and returned to his meal.

"Ready?" She asked, having waited for them. When she recieved a nod from the group, she hid her face with her cloak. They were all hiding their identity with these as they were planning to mess around to the point where they wouldn't want to be recognized.

"So how're we gonna get there?" Natsu rushed to Hisui's side.

"There's many ways around the city, in case of an emergency. We can go underground, use hidden pathways, cross the rooftops, whichever you prefer." The girl replied.

"Whatever's more exciting." Natsu grinned.

"All three it is." She copied his grin. They had swiftly left the castle without anyone noticing and were now making their way to the fences around it. As soon as they arrived Hisui pointed at a bush, which was hiding an underground tunnel that lead into the city. After a couple minutes of wandering one after another they managed to find the exit and walk in-between the civillians of Crocus.

"Would you guys want something from around here, a souvenir or some sort?" Hisui thoughtfully asked.

"Perhaps, can we look around for a bit?" Mirajane placed her index finger on her chin and looked up before she asked, Hisui nodded and let them wander. Mirajane pulled Natsu's arm so he would tag along with her.

"What do you think you'd like to take home?" She asked her mate.

"It doesn't matter much to me, as long as it brings back good memories." Natsu replied.

"Hmmm, well I guess we got some time. We can keep looking until they'll get into trouble, I guess." She reasoned. Meanwhile Gray and Erza had decided to leave the lovebirds to themselves and go explore different areas. Mirajane and Natsu had come aross multiple stands that had a variety of activities. It felt more like a festival than anything else. There was a stand for shooting, which Natsu attempted.

"Isn't that something for Bisca or Alzack? This isn't exactly your style, Natsu." Mirajane attempted to talk him out of it. She wasn't sure how Natsu could handle losing to this activity.

"I'm sure I can point a gun at something like that." He laughed at the figure he was supposed to shoot. It hardly resembled anything but a humanoid.

"Don't test your luck boy, shoot to win." The man suggested.

"Aw c'mon, how hard can it be?" Natsu asked while he shouldered the gun. When he fired the target swiftly leapt to the left, quickly avoiding Natsu's shot.

"I think you spoke too soon..." Mirajane whispered.

"The hell?" Natsu cursed.

"I think your woman's correct, boy." The man laughed. Natsu gritted his teeth and made his second attempt, which had the same result.

"God damn it!" He cursed again.

"It's fine, Natsu. We don't need a prize, we're just here to have fun." Mirajane tried to calm him down.

"I'm all fired up!" Was his response, making them both sweat drop.

"I guess there's no talking him out of it." She muttered. Natsu prepared for his first shot, closing one eye and lining his vision up with the gun and his target. After a while of adjusting his aim and carefully observing the target, he quickly turned to the left and shot. The target 'evaded' straight into the bullet and got hit. Making both Mirajane and the man stare in surprise.

"And you said I couldn't do it..." He rested the gun on his shoulder and turned to Mirajane. While he was accepting his prize he was dragged away with Mirajane by a cloaked figure.I a

"H-Hisui?! What's going on?" They picked up their pace and now matched her running speed.

"I might've made things a bit more ... interesting." Natsu could recognize a grin on her face and smiled.

"Well then let's get Erza and Gray and get the hell out of here!"

* * *

So it's a shorty but hey, like I said, I'm with family atm so I probably won't be able to update that often 'til I'm back home. Hope I at least gave you something worth to be called an update, see y'all next time!


	41. Chapter 41

Aaaaaaaaaand it's been a really really long time, has it not? Yeah ... Like I said, I was with familiy. I have returned home, however. I shall attempt to pick up my schedule again. I didn't even get to do Valin's last chapter so to all the people that read his Tenrou story you can blame me for his late update on that one. Now I hope I won't have pissed too much people off already, but at long last I shall give thee ze chapter I have prepared for this very occasion so that thy shalt be capable of exploiting this very combination of letters as a form of amusement and ... stuff. Yes I am the best when it comes to fancy words!

* * *

"What the ..." Gray mouthed before Erza and him were caught in the horde that consisted of their friends.

"The hell's going on?" He finished his question.

"Halt, thieves!" They heard a guard shout from behind them. Erza slowly turned towards the green-haired woman with a death glare.

"Hisui, care to explain?" She slowly asked.

"I might've alerted the guards of our presence and made them think of us as young thieves." She snickered, making some grin and others gasp in shock.

"And you thought that was ok?" Erza questioned her further.

"I thought I'd just make the trip a little more ... interesting." She replied, Natsu interfered.

"There's no point in whining about it now, let's just pick up our pace and run for it!" He yelled while looking behind him, noticing their pursuers were closing in on them.

"Alright, this way!" Hisui guided them into an alleyway, which seemed to end in a wooden fence which was slightly broken towards the bottom of it. She was the first to swiftly dash into the opening and make it to the other end of the fence, the rest quickly followed her example or simply jumped the fence. When Natsu was the last one to get past it he saw his friends making their way to another alley ending in a large brick wall. The princess climbed a ladder that was present up to the rooftops. She crouched down as did all of them.

"We might be safe ... temporarily." Hisui whispered.

"Scratch that, run for it!" Natsu yelled while pulling Mirajane with him into sprinting speed. The guards had noticed them from a their post on a tower. They were now leaping from rooftop to rooftop. After passing many chimneys they dropped down in between two buildings, falling through the laundry of the inhabitants of those houses. Hisui managed to make her way down using the ropes supporting the laundry with great agility, however the others reached the ground with quite the inappropriate clothing. She couldn't help but laugh at her friends, who then turned to each other and did the same. When noticed the guards looking down on them, they quickly shook the clothes off and continued to run for it.

"We need to shake them off quickly, we can't outrun them forever." Gray stated.

"I know where to go, but it won't be that easy to get to." Hisui told them.

"Doesn't matter, let's roll with it." Natsu replied, to whom she nodded.

"We're gonna have to split up. I'll go by myself, I need the four of you to take the guards away from me. After about five minutes you make sure you're at this exact plaza." The princess instructed them. After processing what she had just said they nodded and split. Natsu went off to the left with Mira while the other two mages reached a higher position to catch the attention of the tower guards. Hisui went straight ahead, still being chased by a few guards. It wouldn't be a problem for her to shake them off, in fact, she already has. Relieved, she sighed and crawled out of the hiding spot she quickly had claimed. It didn't take her long to reach the spot she had in mind, and started removing the debris the was covering it. When she was done, she started looking for something small. It took her more than it should have, but she finally was able to flick the switch. A tile elevated and carefully exposed a hidden pathway, it was another one of the castle's hidding ways from and to the castle.

"Damn these guys are persistant!" Natsu hissed, returning his vision to where he was running.

"It wouldn't be fun if they weren't, right?" Mirajane smiled at him. She always pulled it off, turning Natsu's complaints around to pleasure him with that warm smile of hers.

"I guess you're right." He gave in. He wouldn't argue with Mirajane until the day he wanted to die.

"Think it's about time?" She broke his train of thought.

"Yeah, let's go." Natsu confirmed her thought, grabbing her hand tighter and abruptly turning around. They rushed through the horde of guardsmen without much trouble and made their way to the plaza.

"I hope she'll be here soon..." Gray muttered from his hiding spot which he shared with Erza. They were hidding by a bit of debris that was located in the outer corner of the plaza.

"Is that Natsu?" Erza asked, noticing the sight of the pink-haired mage. It was then that the giant horde of guards came into sight.

"Yup, that's Natsu alright." Gray laughed, rushing out of his spot. The two teams met Hisui half way, who motioned them to follow.

"Did you get it done?" Natsu asked, not knowing what it is she had wanted to do, he got a nod.

"So now what?" Erza asked.

"It's just around this corner. Natsu, Gray, I want the two of you to hold them off for a bit when we get there ... give 'em a good show." She grinned a bit while saying the last part. The mages had understood all too well. When they turned the corner, Hisui ordered Erza and Mirajane to open the hole she appointed and get out of there. Natsu and Gray turned around, preparing to use their magic. When the guards followed them around the corner they were greeted by the image of walls covered in ice and flames rising from the ground. The silhouettes of two men could be seen through the fire.

"Halt!" One shouted when he saw them move. What followed was the fire and ice that was collected and formed two slim dragons. The sight of these two figures startled the guards slightly. When the dragons of fire and ice danced around eachother they seemed to open their mouths while facing the guardsmen. What the patrol saw then was a vortex of fire and ice spikes that went straight into the walls and the ground before them. When they opened their eyes, the group was nowhere to be seen.

"Phew, can't believe we actually made it out." Natsu sighed in relief. They were all catching their breath in the small tunnel.

"Yeah, for a second there, I thought we'd get caught for sure." Gray replied.

"We would have if it weren't for Hisui, I didn't know there would be so many ways around the city." Mirajane smiled at her, noticing the girl was laughing herself.

"That was awesome!" She raised her fist, making them all chuckle.

"You don't get to do stuff like this very often, do you?" Natsu asked her, she shook her head. She looked up when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"All the more reason to be this excited over it." Natsu grinned at her. When they reached the castle they were greeted by Hisui's father.

"So .. Did you all have a good time out there?" He immediately asked.

"Heck yeah!" Natsu raised his fist. Hisui nodded at her father.

"Very well, I think it's about time for dinner. I thank you all for giving my daughter this oppertunity." He announced.

"There's nothing we did that we didn't want to do, Hisui's fun to be around." Natsu countered the praise. Hisui looked away with a tint of red on her cheeks when she heard that. The tall man faced Mirajane.

"You're lucky to have him." He whinked. She nodded and smiled at him. When she turned to Natsu, Mirajane saw the look in his face and knew what was on his mind. She knew he wasn't sure if he believed the words that were just spoken. She also knew exactly how to put his mind at ease as she walked over to him and laid her head in his chest while holding his hand. She looked up to see him blushing slightly, she decided to play on that and went up to kiss his cheek.

"Ahem!" Gray coughed loudly, making Mirajane slowly put some distance between the two of them.

After dinner the couple could be found wandering the long corridors of the castle.

"This is that painting." Natsu pointed at the landscape that resembled the one he grew up in.

"This is like the place you were raised?" The silver-haired woman asked him.

"Yeah, it's where I was with Igneel all the time..." He silently spoke.

"That looks like a dream." She gently laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'm starting to think it was..." Natsu commented. Mirajane turned to him and held his hand.

"He's proud of you. You've become an amazing mage and person, Natsu." She comforted him, bringing him into a hug.

"We're all proud of you..." She whispered.

* * *

So, I'm back home. I kinda left you guys hanging for quite a while, but now you finally get to see how stuff goes on! I'll try to make sure the next update won't miss the day after tomorrow! See y'all 'til then!


	42. Chapter 42

And here I am, tired as fuck, attempting to bring out a chapter. Just took a 5 hour nap, and going to bed again after doing this. I'll probably make this a quick one since I'm not too up for it as I am right now, don't hatez pls! As for the story we'll see if I can squirm in something else or if I'll just do something that's actually of importance ... Like hell I know :P

* * *

Natsu woke up from his third night spent at the castle with his friends. When he opened his eyes, his vision was still blurry. After finally being able to see properly Natsu noticed he wasn't in the same room he slept in. When he turned he was surprised to see Hisui's sleeping body, soon to wake up. Questions filled his mind as he tried to figure any logical explenation for the situation he was in. When the girl woke up Natsu immediatly had to ask her.

"Uh .. Hisui, what am I doing here? Where are my friends?" These sounded like some strange questions to ask to someone you woke up next to but this was a special situation.

"Friends? I thought you said you had enough with me, that you didn't need anyone else to rule the country with." She sulked a bit.

"Rule ... the country?" He slowly repeated her words.

"Yeah, silly ... You're the king, after all!" She cheered up while saying that and lunged at him, pinning him down on the bed.

"W-What's going on? Where's Mirajane?" He immediatly looked around to find her.

"Who's that?" Hisui innocently asked, smirking while she did so.

"My mate..." He spoke smoothly.

"You're mate's right here." The woman on top of him pointed at the mark on her collarbone. Natsu noticed the same mark there as on his very own chest.

"What in the world ..." He whispered, then he noticed someone standing in the door opening. It was a person he didn't recognize, but surely Natsu already knew he didn't like the person. When he walked closer, his apparel became visible. It was a black-haired man with a long black coat, red eyes and pale skin.

"Who are you?" Natsu immediatly asked.

"I'm the man who took your previous mate from you, and I'll soon take this one too." The man licked Hisui's face, she herself seemed to have been frozen of some sort. The man started laughing histerically after that, Natsu noticed shades appearing behind him. It took a while for Natsu to make out what they were resembling but he could recognize Deliora in there, whom he was told about by Gray, Lullaby was also seen before but Natsu also saw Acnologia. The person and his shades seemed to suddenly expand and the shadows overtook the room, engulfing Natsu entirely. As he was swallowed he screamed his lungs out, hoping for someone to hear him. He noticed a small light in the darkness that was now surrounding him, hearing a voice.

"Natsu! Natsu, wake up! Natsu!" He recognized the voice right away and ran to the light as fast as he could, but was punched back by an incredible force.

"WAKE UP!" He then felt his face being slapped. The moment he opened his eyes, the darkness was gone. His body was sweating hard, and he was located in a bed once more. He turned to see all of his companions look at him with a worried look on their face. Natsu gulped and sat up straight.

"Are you ok?" Mirajane immediatly embraced him.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks." He simply replied.

"What happened? You're not gonna tell me that was just a bad dream." Gray asked.

"Why? What was I doing then?" Natsu returned a question.

"Well... we all woke up to hear you scream and see you shake, shiver and sweat. You got us pretty worried." Erza explained.

"Heh, sorry. I don't really know what happened, it was definitely not usual. I'm not even sure what I saw." He tried to collect his memories of the nightmare.

"We can just forget about it, can't we?" Mirajane noticed he was struggling and tried to keep him from having to do anything of this sort.

"For now, yes. But we can't ignore it if it were to happen a second time." Erza sternly exclaimed.

"Let's all just catch some breakfast and see what to do next." Gray suggested, most agreed to his offer and made their way out after changing. They told no one about Natsu's morning experience, instead they decided to forget about it for the most part.

"Hey Natsu, we haven't actually seen what your new flame can do." Gray notified the group of that fact.

"Oh yeah, you're right. I guess we could spend our afternoon that way. Yo Hisui, wanna come?" Natsu immediatly asked her, he didn't want to leave her out on anything. She was happy to know he thought of her and quickly nodded.

"Great, that's settled then!" They all went back to finishing their breakfast before they found a nice spot in the massive garden to practice their magic.

"Ok then. I've no idea what it's special properties are yet but it seems extremely unnatural. It's not bright, it's feint. Fire will burn you, while you'll hardly sense this one's presence." Natsu tried to explain his first impressions on the flame as he ignited his hand with it.

"Try to see what you can do with it." Erza suggested as she changed into her Flame Empress Armor.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot." Natsu went with her suggestion and prepared a roar. The purple flames he let out came at Erza with incredible speed, but on impact Erza seemed to have no trouble at all taking the hit.

"That's rather peculiar. The flames are much, much faster than your usual fire but they lack damage in comparison." Erza told them what she had noticed so far.

"So it's a fast one, but what use is it if I can't fight with it?" Natsu asked, they were all tinkering.

"Maybe you're just using it wrong." Gray optioned.

"How else can I use it?" Natsu asked, slightly agitated by the comment, Gray shook his shoulders.

"Perhaps I should talk to Igneel about it, he might know more..." Natsu tinkered aloud.

"Can you do that right now?" Erza asked him, he turned to face her and nodded.

"Get to it then." With that, Natsu positioned himpself cross-legged on a boulder and started meditating.

"It's astonishing that even Natsu can be quiet and peaceful..." Erza commented, making Hisui giggle.

"I don't know much of anything that he can't do. Well except for the practical skills like cooking, that is." Mirajane giggled.

"How strong is Natsu?" Hisui suddenly asked.

"Very strong, he's stood before many stronger enemies already and faced them without a single bit of feat. He's at his strongest when we truly need him." Erza objectively responded.

"Is he the strongest of you?" She asked, Gray obviously stepped forward to answer.

"Hah, I'd beat him any ti-HMPF!" Gray started but was quickly silenced by Mirajane jabbing him in the stomach.

"He most definitely is." The Take Over mage responded.

"Natsu? What is it you seek now?" Igneel asked him, surprised that his son wanted to talk to him yet again.

"You've seen I got this new flame, right?" The question made Igneel giggle slightly.

"I should've known you'd want to know about it, sit down." Natsu took a seat next to his foster parent and in front of the fire that was always present there.

"So the flame you posses is one that complies the most with spectral properties. It is of the same fundamentation as spectral, shadow and dark magic. You've noticed it isn't as destructive as your other flames. The spectral dragons weren't skilled in one on one combat, instead, they were masters of disguise, the distortion of their opponent's senses, illusions, such things. They weren't facing their opponent head-on as you like to do. They used tactics in their victories, decieved their opponents." Igneel explained all he knew about the flame.

"So it's a whole new kind of add-on to my arsenal!" Natsu cheered.

"In a way, yes. It's much different from any flame you've used before, and might situationally be the best one to use as well." The dragon commented.

"Thanks Igneel, I knew I could come to you for this." Natsu stood up and waved goodbye before he ran off in the darkness of his own mind.

"That kid ..." Igneel sighed.

The group turned silent when they noticed Natsu slowly emerged from the forest.

"So, did you get to talk to him?" Erza asked, changing to her Fire set once more. Natsu replied by replacing his body entirely by the spectral flame.

"Already? This guy sure picks things up fast..." Gray spoke surprised. The white eyes that were surrounded by the black-purple flames looked menacing. Natsu made the first move, dashing at Erza at blinding speed in a zigzag pattern. She was surprised by his speed but had no problem blocking the incoming hit. Natsu wouldn't give her a break, however. He quickly backed off and circled her with his speed so that is was hard to keep track of him. He went in for a strike here and there, which hardly dented Erza. Suddenly the strikes seemed to come more fortunate, they followed each other quicker and faster than before. Erza had trouble keeping up with the incoming strikes. Eventually one caught her off-guard and the following barrage of the attacks sure put the hurt on her. When she laid down on the ground Erza looked up to see Natsu grinning down at her, only there wasn't just one Natsu, but six. Everyone seemed surprised at the copies of Natsu who were now vanishing.

"I see, you're gonna play it that way." Erza chuckled while she stood up. Natsu leapt backwards and became transparent. The flames subsided and only his eyes remained visible until even those were taken from sight. They looked around to see Natsu's next move, which came from above. Natsu plunged down at her in a spiral of the purple fire. Erza was obviously capable of dodging such attack but wasn't fast enough to counterattack before Natsu had used the same trick to disappear again.

"Damn this is gonna be annoying..." She whispered.

"You might be right about that..." She heard someone answer her behind her, Erza swung her sword but sliced nothing but air. Just after her missed swing Natsu appeared and punched her into the air, she then got caught in the kick of a second Natsu which brought her into a third Natsu's somersault kick. Erza crashed into the ground after this devestating combo. When many Natsu's rushed in to finish Erza off they were all flooded away by a tidal wave the came from the armor mage. When Natsu rose to his feet he saw the Sea Empress Armor his opponent was wearing.

"Interesting choice..." He grinned before he charged again. Erza prepared and anticipated how Natsu would disappear in front of her and reappear behind her. As Natsu vanished she quickly turned to meet him with her sword. Natsu was surprised by her reflexes but deflected the sword, Erza punched him but her fist went right through his face.

'Damn ... forgot about that' She thought before she was met with another barrage of fists. As she was knocked back by the final punch she managed to recover extremely quick and launch a stream of water at Natsu. It wasn't meant to damage him but rather to put him on his toes as it was sure to be evaded. Erza was yet again unaware of Natsu's location. When she heard a slight whisper she simply stabbed the ground, covering the entire area in a wave of water. When the attack subsided she noticed the drenched Natsu on the ground, and quickly ran over.

"Seems like it was my victory..." Erza quickly stabbed him with the water sword.

"Nooo! She's hurting him!" Hisui cried out, she knew it would be fine for them to take a couple of punches but now Erza was literally penetrating Natsu with her sword. Mirajane stopped her however, assuring her that Natsu's fine. The women looked at each other with either confused or cheerful looks in their eyes. Then they all saw it, Natsu was laughing while being stabbed. Erza was confused until the body vaporized into nothingness. When she caught on she quickly turned around. She was met by a Natsu who looked down to the side with his eyes closed and grinning. His hand was pointed at her in the motion of a gun, which quickly fired a fireblase straight to her face.

* * *

What'd you think about the fight? I thought it went pretty well, might have made it too one-sided ... Ah well! It was actually not as short as I expected it to be, well look at that! Anyways I hope this was enjoyable for you guys, I'll be going now. All of your support is much appreciated, see y'all next time!


	43. Chapter 43

I guess I could just keep apologizing... The first two days were on me, but yesterday and before that I had to work for Valin :/ btw I've totally been forgetting that Wendy's actually around too *facepalm* I did the same with Happy but I've pretty much come to accept that this story won't have a lot of Happy in it, or any exceed at that :/ now I'll just try to make you guys happy with the following:

* * *

"Really ... you're getting more and more annoying to fight by the day." Erza sighed as she was pulled up from the ground by Natsu.

"To annoy you in a fight, is a good thing." Natsu smirked as the flames subsided and revealed his flesh.

"Remind me to satisfy you enough so you won't have to sneak into Fairy Hills." Mirajane teasingly spoke while closing the distance between herself and Natsu. He flinched when he looked down at Mirajane's beautiful face as she bit her lip in a, once again, teasing manner.

"From the look of his face, I don't think you'll have to worry." Gray found it hilarious to see Natsu being controlled like that.

"Agreed." Erza simply stated, the look on Natsu's face was all the confirmation she needed. The group laughed all together while Hisui was still staring them all down from a distance. Before her she saw something that she hadn't truly seen before: a family.

"Yo, Hisui. What's the problem?" Natsu noticed her quite some distance away from them, frozen.

"H-Huh? Oh, nothing!" She cheered up the moment he called out for her and rushed to them.

"You're really strong!" She praised him.

"Huh? Me? I wish I could say it's nothing special as I usually would but I guess I'm past that stage." Natsu admitted as he scratched the back of his head.

"You should take some pride in your strength, you used to want nothing more but to be able to beat Erza." Mirajane told him while pushing her breasts against his body.

"Yeah, but I also used to be 10 ... and immune to the effects of the female body..." He looked to the side and muttered the last part. Mirajane chuckled as she understood the words, then turned Natsu's face her way and pushed her lips upon his own.

"You COULD get a room, you know." Gray insinuated, recieving waves from both parties.

"They really like each other, huh?" Hisui asked aloud as she stood still next to Erza.

"Yeah, they have to. I wouldn't go on a two year journey with just anyone." She replied, uncovering a part of Natsu and Mirajane's past experiences to Hisui.

"They traveled that long?" The girl turned and faced Erza, who sighed.

"It's not up to me to tell you why, but yes, they did." She assured her.

"I just wish they'd keep this kind of stuff for their private moments, which they get a lot of." Gray joined the conversation.

"I don't mind, perhaps it's just that you're jealous of afraid that you're actually losing to Natsu?" Erza provoked the ice mage.

"W-What? You're kidding, right? Me? Lose to him? In your dreams." He pouted and glanced at the couple.

"Will we do anything else today besides watching the two of you make out?" Erza called out to them, making them seperate at last.

"Suggestions?" Natsu asked them.

"We could go check up on Wendy, we haven't heard from her a lot ever since she took that job in the city." Erza tinkered.

"To work while you're on a small vacation, that girl's something else..." Natsu sighed.

"I'm sure she just wants to live like a normal person, which she hasn't really been able to do before she joined our guild." Mirajane defended the sky dragon slayer.

"Yeah, most likely. So I guess that's what we're doing then, let's go!" Natsu pointed in the direction they were going and started walking, the group quickly followed.

A small bell rang as an alert for incoming customers.

"Hey there, I'd like a couple of pretzels for me and my friends." Natsu called out. Wendy was absently sorting some supplies, the voice she heard made her sink deeper into her thoughts. When the same sound rang multiple times she quickly woke up from her trance.

"Oh sorry, your voice reminds me of someone I kno- Natsu!" She called out the moment she realized it was the fire mage before her.

"How ya doin'?" He grinned while he waved at her.

"Great, people are friendly around here!" She smiled as she prepared the pretzels. When they exchanged the product for the money, Natsu quickly returned the bag to her hands.

"They're for you, silly." He explained when he saw Wendy's questioning look.

"Working all day when you could be relaxing, you're crazy." They all laughed quietly at Natsu comment.

"Even your boss is nice to you?" Mirajane asked the little girl, who nodded.

"He's really nice to me, he asked a lot about Natsu when I told him who brought me here." She explained.

"I guess that's what hearing about Natsu does to people." Mirajane replied, pretending as Natsu wasn't even there.

"You don't even wanna know what YOU do to people without even trying..." Natsu muttered loud enough for her to catch.

"Are you saying I fail to understand the simple men that wander this planet, such as yourself." She cupped his cheek, showing off certain parts of her body.

"I'm saying you're understimating our capabilities." Natsu smiled and closed his eyes as he lowered Mirajane's hand.

"Care to put that to the test?" She asked.

"Happily." He replied.

"I think there's a better time for that." Gray moved in between them, preventing another season of 'make out' to be released in front of them. Natsu grumbled but returned his attention to the bluenette.

"Anyways, we're leaving by tomorrow. How long are you gonna stay around?" Natsu asked her.

"I'll be done in about 15 minutes, just go wander around and I'll be right behind you!" Wendy told them.

"Alright, we'll meet at the plaza!" Natsu called out as he waved her goodbye. They passed a wide variety of stores, Mirajane stuck to the glass from the clothing stores while Erza nearly licked the armor sets they passed by. It didn't take long before they met up with Wendy and returned to the castle.

"Ah Natsu! I was wondering where you and your friends had gone off to!" The tall man that represented the king of Fiore and was Hisui's daughter lightened up upon seeing the friendly face of the fire mage.

"Why's that?" He curiously asked, there had to be a reason for him to be looking for him.

"Well who else am I gonna give that medal of honor?" He pointed down a large hallway where multiple citizens could watch a medal displayed in a glass box. The group started to realize what was about to happen and slowly followed the tall man down the hallway. They heard cheers from the crowd as soon as they made their appearance. When they reached the small altar the supported the small box, silence followed.

"People of Crokus, we are here to give praise to a single man. This man bears the survival of every single one of you here, including me, on his shoulders. His brave deeds of potential self-sacrifice might have even cost him his own life, one he himself deemed unworthy of the many that would follow him if he had not acted like he has. Natsu Dragneel has saved many many people the day that he defeated Oracion Seis, knowing that he might not live to see another day. I say he deserves at least this small honor that we bring him today!" He raised his fist to strengthen his words, followed by loud cheers of the crowd around them. Lautrec slowly reached out for the medal, and hovered it in front of Natsu.

"Please accept this small token of gratitude, for it shows that you have done a good deed for the people of this country." Natsu gulped, declining wasn't even an option in front of so many people. Slowly he nodded and recieved the medal. When he was given this medal cheers bursted out once more, they all seemed to adore the teenager in front of them. Much to Mirajane's despair, hearts filled the eyes of female 16-18 year olds as they looked at him. She acted quickly and pushed herself closer to him until it was obvious that he was taken. And as such, Natsu was now very famed for what he had done that day. Many people now praised him as a hero, the whole country was aware of his actions. It was a tough thought to swallow. Natsu couldn't get any rest and just stared up to the ceiling from his bed, Mirajane lying next to him.

"I wonder how much this'll change our lives..." He whispered.

* * *

So that chapter was basically a whole lotta nuthin' 'cept for the ceremony. I tried to make up for keeping Wendy out of the picture as well as gave Natsu his praise. I hope you guys are satisfied for now, see y'all next time!


	44. Chapter 44

Here I am, on time for once! Screw Valin and his tiranny, his chapter will have to wait until tomorrow. So they'll finally be returning to Fairy Tail and I'll have to start to Tenrou arc. Now that Natsu's also an S-class mage he won't be a participant, so look forward to that! Anyways so here we are, waking up the next day.

* * *

The party scoffled up their breakfast, they wanted to have enough time left to do just this small thing.

"My, in a hurry, are we?" Lautrec commented on our hasty manners.

"Kind of. Hisui, meet us in the garden later." Natsu quickly replied before him and the other wizards left for the backdoor. Hisui looked over at her father, who raised his shoulders and then nodded his head. When they finished their dinner, she left to go find her new friends.

When she entered the garden, she searched the area but saw nothing but green grass and bushes. She wandered off until she was met by a little gust. It felt quite unnatural, yet pleasing. She followed the gust until she was met by five Fairy Tail wizards. In the middle of them stood an ice sculpture of her, with a flaming circle around it a fiery words embedded in it. There were small gusts around it singing in the wind, and two swords crossed in front of it.

"We mad it together, how is it?" Natsu asked for her opinion.

"W-.. You all, made this for me?" She stuttered, she moved closer when they all nodded.

"I love it!" She smiled brightly. Natsu went up to point at the words he inscribed.

"Gathering the wisdom of her mother." He read from the forehead of the sculture.

"The strength of her father." Gray read from her right arm.

"And the support of her people." Mirajane read from her left arm.

"To grow into a beautiful queen." Natsu finished with the text on her collarbone. Hisui nearly cried, she was so happy that these people genuinely cared about her.

"Hey, hey, I thought we were going to show them how strong and independant you were." Natsu crouched in front of her and brought his hand to her shoulder.

"No one really ever cared about me except father, everyone just looked at me as 'the princess of Fiore'. You guys have shown me more care than anyone else has. You are my only friends, and I don't need any more." She cried out. They all smiled down at her, she threw herself forward into a hug with Natsu.

"THERE ARE BOUNDARIES, HOWEVER!" Mirajane rushed to seperate them. Natsu sat up and scratched the back of his head, flustered. Hisui showed an angelic smile.

"Thank you all, but will this not melt or extinguish?" She asked worrisome.

"Nope, the ice won't melt any time soon. The fire's cold so it won't melt the ice, and it won't go out anytime soon. The gust of wind will stay there as well." Natsu explained, Gray and Wendy stood behind him nodding. Hisui couldn't help but smile when she looked up to the sculpture once more.

"It's getting near time for us to leave then, huh?" The fire mage turned to his friends.

"Yeah, we need to get back home in time." Erza replied.

"Huh? In time for what?" He questioned.

"Aw, don't tell me you forgot, Natsu." Mirajane rested her head on his shoulder.

"Forgot what?" He was kept in the dark.

"We won't tell you." The take over mage teased.

"W-Why not?" He stuttered, surprised by her response.

"Because, why would I?" She looked up at him, innocently. He then just left the subject for what it was.

"Hisui, it was real fun around here. Thanks a bunch for having us!" He waved at her.

"The honor was mine." She bowed in a royal fashion. The group followed her example and walked off.

"So, what is it that they showed you?" Her father anxiously asked her.

"An amazing gift. A token of our friendship." She whispered. They both waved the group off as the cart left the terrain into the woods. They would have yet another long trip ahead of them. Natsu was once again just snoring his way through time on Mirajane's lap. The rest was just having a friendly conversation about how good the time was that they passed back at the castle. It was dark when they arrived in Magnolia. The courier was nice enough to help them with their luggage and waved them goodbye with a smile on his face. They turned around to face the guild hall.

"I doubt anyone's still around at this time. Mira, you got a key, right?" He turned to face her.

"Of course I do." She twirled the key around her finger while walking over to the tall double door. They cracked ever so slightly while opening, upon entering they noticed it was empty.

"Let's just check in and go ho-" Gray started but was cut off.

"WELCOME BACK!" Nearly all of Fairy Tail jumped out and yelled. The lights were turned on and revealed them all and the group that was now on the ground.

"Heh, really now. We expected you guys to be more alert after a vacation." Macao barked.

"Ah, shut it. It was a tiring ride, you know?" Natsu growled back.

"Sure it was, sitting on your ass for a day must be real hard." Wakaba countered. Before an all out guild brawl could commence, Makarov appeared.

"SILENCE, BRATS! Finally the five of you have returned. I can now commence the briefing of the S-class mage promotion trial." He shouted.

"The S-class exams?" Natsu whispered to himself before facepalming.

"CRAP!" The curse made the group next to him snicker.

"The current S-class mages will be supervisors of the exams, I expect them to be honest and forgiving towards the results and they will not be allowed to fight at full force." This immediatly bummed Natsu down.

"The participants for the S-class exams this year will be: Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox, Wendy Marvell, Cana Alberona, Alzack Connel, Freed Justine, Elfman Strauss and Bickslow. You are allowed to train to your utmost extent with anyone you'd like but the trials will be for you yourself to complete. To avoid further conflicts I will introduce you to Mest. He is appointed to watch over the trials in the name of the council." Master Makarov explained the rules of the exam. A man walked up to the stage, Mest presented himself simple rather than fancy as the Magic Council usually does.

"Now, the participants and the S-class mages are to assemble at the docks within a week. We will sail to Tenrou Island, where Fairy Tail has held it's annual S-class mage trials for years now." Makarove intructed them. They all nodded.

"Alright then, get a good night's sleep and start training!" With that, he left the stage. They all walked off homewards.

"The S-class exams, and you didn't even have to take them." Mirajane muttered while clinging to Natsu.

"Eheh, not much I can do about that." He chuckled.

"You're just too good, is that what you're saying?" Mirajane cornered him.

"No, I'm not! There's plenty of things that you could beat me at, but we both know that I've got more stamina than you do." He smirked, he's proven that to be a fact multiple times.

"Oh really? I think I might have to ask for a rematch on that one." She smiled up at him.

"Is that so, huh? I usually don't accept challenges but for you, I'll make an exception." He grinned.

"Oh, aren't you ever so kind?" They laughed aloud but the mood soon turned more intimate as they walked down the road to their house ...

* * *

It's a rather short one but well ... what can I say. I got distracted tonight :P At least I still got it done, I got that going for me. Now let us all hail the fact that it is not a complete imitation of canon!


	45. Chapter 45

Ok, I was too tired yesterday to get one going but there's 'nother chappy c'min up right naow. We're gonna try to get those trials going, but I'm gonna try to spice 'em up because screw full canon. Although I think I'm gonna keep the first elimination round in there because I thought it was really good. Anyways so we're just timeskipping our way over to the docks, choo choo (time skipping = train).

* * *

After a week of training the group of participants and S-class mages joined together at the harbor of Magnolia. Master Makarov was also present as well as Girldarts, who had arrived recently. Everybody had figured what Mirajane and Natsu had done last night, you could tell by the way they looked when they arrived.

"Now thas they have arrived, I believe we are ready to depart." Makarov stated.

"Everybody, get on." Gildarts commanded and watched over all the Fairy Tail mages. Before Natsu could pass him he was stopped by Gildarts.

"Shouldn't you be downed by the fact that we're going there by boat?" He asked. Natsu raised his shoulders before replying.

"Mira's here, it won't be that bad." He continued walking with his mate right behind him, it kind of left Gildarts dumbfounded. He stopped before Wendy and lowered himself to her eye-height.

"Alright, Wendy. It's time to show 'em who's boss! I tried helping you get some more combat-ready spells going, but it's up to you now. I know you can surprise them, I know you can beat them too! But you're gonna have to prove to me that you wanna do it!" Wendy looked up to Natsu when he raised himself. She was really happy with the faith the fire mage had in her.

"Thanks, Natsu!" She yelled happily before moving to the edge of the boat. Natsu sighed before he motioned Mira that he was done and went below deck with her. As usual, he was just gonna sleep his way through the trip.

"Erza, could you make sure the people below deck know when we're about to arrive?" Makarov asked the armor mage.

"Yes, master." She replied strictly.

"Good, now just enjoy the ride until we get there." He smirked and looked ahead at the horizon. The trip would presumably take a couple hours or more, but it was still early in the morning so they should have enough time for the first test by the time they arrive.

"So, what's the first test gonna be like?" Natsu asked as he laid down on Mirajane's lap in the private S-class mage quarters.

"It's gonna be a form of an elimination round. It involves a stroke of luck too. When we arrive the first thing they'll face is a choice, one to decide which path they'll take. WE are gonna be on one of those each. So eg: You are to remain stationary on route E. So say that Wendy takes route E, she will have to fight you." Mirajane carefully explained, making sure the fire mage could follow her. A nod from him made sure she knew that.

"We will have our fighting strength reduced dramatically, especially you. You are not allowed to merge your body with a flame, you're only to use it as you did years ago." Mirajane pressured, she was now staring down at him intently like a mother who had just scolded her son.

"Gotcha." He whimpered.

"Some other routes will lead to one another and two mages will then have to fight for passage." She continued her explenation.

"Right, and what after?" Natsu asked.

"We're gonna set up camp close to the exit of the first test. It's there where we'll eat, sleep, rest, get patched up and such, etc." She answered.

"Alright, don't need nothing more." He cut her off and closed his eyes. She angrily looked down at him before she cracked a smile from his silly face. She turned to straddling his hair and looking off through a window.

Up top it was getting quite rowdy. Gajeel was near puking, as a result most people avoided him. Bickslow and Freed were hanging out on their own, away from the bunch. Elfman kept annoying people with his atrocious man-speech. Cana was, for once, not drinking. Wendy was innocently smiling amongst the gang, trying to look away from the stripping gray.

"Gray, a real man wears clothes!" Elfman accused him.

"Shut up, a real man isn't afraid to show off his body!" Gray countered. Elfman widened his eyes before shredding his shirt apart to reveal his mascular chest.

"Damn it, I wasn't serious!" Gray retorted, this confused Elfman as he shamelessly retreated to get a new shirt. Alzack was stralling around, talking to himself.

"Bisca will be proud of you whether you make it or not." Makarov surprised the gun mage with his sudden announcement.

"I know, but I still want to win so there's a reason to be proud of me." He showed his conviction while saying that.

"Boy, it's already an honor to even be on this boat." The old man pointed out.

"I wasn't saying it wasn't, I mean ..." Alzack was having trouble finding the words.

"It'd just be nice to get something better, I get it." Makarov helped him out, he then just faced the sea once more. As time passed the island came in sight, which in turn obviously excited everyone aboard. Erza immediatly made her way below deck.

"Everyone up top, we're nearing our destination! Natsu, Mira, quite slacking off and get moving!" She commanded everyone present. As Natsu woke up he grumbled at the armor mage and rose to his feet.

"C'mon, we've got scrubs to beat." He turned to his mate, who chuckled at the way of speach. The S-class mages were quietly leaving the boat while the participants were being instructed. Mirajane flew Natsu and herself over to the island without getting noticed. From then on, all the mages had to split up. Gildarts, Mirajane, Natsu and Erza were now stationed on the path thye were assigned to while leaving four remaining routes open for mages to battle each other. Natsu positioned himself in the dark with a good view on the cave entrance. He'd know when his opponent were to arrive while he himself would remain undetected. Natsu wanted to adapt his way of showing himself to the person he would be facing. He had to remind himself that he had to do all he could to get the best out of whoever that would be. He hear a loud horn, symbolizing the start of the first test. It was now just waiting for him.

The mages had made a swift start, they quickly jumped in the water and made their way over to the island. Bickslow and Freed were capable of flying across the water while the rest had to get wet. As a result the two friends were obviously the first to arrive but they cut each other no slack. Freed was the first one to spurt into path C, while Bickslow took the one next to that, B. The other mages arrived shortly and ran to pick their routes. C and B were blocked off so the only remaining options were A, D, E, F, G, and H. Elfman rushed in D, Wendy went for A, Gray entered E, cana went for G, Alzack rushed towards F. Gajeel was the last one to make it to the island as his motion sickness had slowed him down, though he was now over that and made his way over to H.

In the dark cave, Gray made his way forward. He had no idea what to expect, except for it being either an S-class mage or another participant. When he entered a rather large and open space in the cave with sunlight dripping down in it, he remained still in the center. He assumed his opponent would make an appearance shortly. He then heard clapping and laughing. When he turned, he saw Natsu exit the shadows.

"I couldn't have asked for anything else." The fire mage grinned.

"you sure you're the one that should be saying that?" Gray chilled the air around his fists while replying.

"Pretty sure I am, care to prove me wrong?" Natsu moved his fists downwards in an X-shaped motion while setting them ablaze.

"You're not gonna fight at full strength?" Gray questioned as he saw Natsu wasn't going to fight as he usually did.

"How about you MAKE me fight at full strength?" The dragon slayer grinned. He figured the best way to motivate Gray was to provoke him as he would in the past.

"Alright then, but don't complain when you're frozen solid." Gray spat out as he launched his basic ice lances at Natsu, who quickly evaded most.

"Oh I won't." He replied as he shattered the final lance that came at him with his fist.

"Ice Make: Saucer!" He heard before the shattered lance revealed a razor sharp ice disk coming at Natsu with tremendous speed. When he attempted to move to the left he was met by an icey well, same to the right. Before the disk reached Natsu the fire mage looked down and covered his eyes in the shadow of his hair. A huge fire engulfed Natsu and melted any ice near it. Through the fire Gray could see Natsu's eyes telling him he made a nice attempt.

"Damn it!" He cursed, Natsu just silently grinned and awaited the ice mage's next move.

"Ice make: Cold Excalibur!" Gray managed to meld the ice in the shape of a massive greatsword.

"Going close ranged, huh?" Natsu smiled.

"I'll make it a bit interesting." He whispered as Gray lunged at him. The crimson flames around his fists turned blue and cold. As Gray's sword came down on Natsu, he blocked it with his forearm and kept it in place with hand. Both of these limbs had caught the blue flame. Surprised, Gray looked down at the arms of the fire mage. The fire spreaded across the huge blade and shattered it.

"What the-" Gray attempted but was silenced by the fire spitting the ice shards of the blade at him. Quickly backflipping to avoid getting hit.

'Reflexes, check.' Natsu thought, he was slowly going over a small list in his mind.

"Let's see what you'll do when raw strenght won't suffice." Natsu yelled before his fire turned purple and multiple copies of Natsu were summoned. Gray took in what was happening, he had seen this before but Natsu was way faster and more powerful back then. He knew this should be easy to deal with but he still didn't know the strenght of these copies.

"So you're gonna play defensive and analyze their strength, huh? I guess that's a smart move, let me get started then." The five Natsus before him spoke in synergy. One of them walked over to Gray, who prepared himself for whatever was to come. They seemed to engage in raw hand-to-hand combat as the copy wasn't using magic. Gray was evading all it's attacks, looking for an opening. Natsu gave in and made the copy open himself up, Gray quickly stroke his abs, followed by a swift kick to the face. However it seemed to have no result, Gray quickly questioned the effectiveness of his blows before starting to look for a different solution. Going over the fact that it wasn't an actual body, yet a mere copy, he thought of something. When the Natsu engaged again, Gray jumped backwards to avoid the punch and dove forward to swing both his hands at his sleep. As soon as it connected, Gray managed to vanquish the copy as it disappeared in the purple fire.

'Quickly adapt to the situation. Find a different solution. Exploit a weakness, check.' Natsu continued silently. Now the four remaining Natsu's set ablaze and charged at the ice mage who shrieked in surprise. He attempted to back off, generating ice structures to aid that purpose. As he rushed in between the pillars of ice he created, spikes that appeared out of them penetrated one of the copies.

'That's one down.' He noted. As the chase continued, one of Natsu managed to catch up when they turned a corner and got a hit in on the ice mage, who shattered upon contact in many icey particles.

"Hm?" He muttered before being cut in half but the swords that Gray wielded as he swiftly slid by underneath them. Gray spread his Ice Geyser out on the pillars next to him while passing them. The remaining two copies avoided this by either propelling upwards using the purple fire or sliding underneath it, leaving a trail of the same fire behind. Gray looked behind him nervously, they kept running through his forest of ice pillars without a plan. Eventually Gray spun around, facing the opposite direction.

"Ice Make: Super Freeze Arrow!" He contructed a Geyser beneath him, raising him up high. He was wielding a greatbow contructed of ice. As a Natsu turned the corner he got hit by a giant arrow, vanquishing him. Gray sild down and continued running. He smirked while he looked behind him but was met by Natsu's fist who calmly leaned against one of Gray's own pillars. As Gray landed on the ground all the ice around them shattered. He was puffing and breathing heavily. Natsu smirked down at him before walking away from him.

"Wait, I haven't lost yet!" Gray yelled.

"Indeed you haven't..." Natsu confirmed. The ice mage charged at him. Natsu turned around with a grin and caught Gray's punch.

"You passed." He announced.

"W-What?" Gray stuttered, confused by the sudden result.

"You. Passed." Natsu slowly repeated himself.

"How? I haven't won yet!" Gray retorted, Natsu sighed before explaining.

"You planned to defeat? I'm sorry but those are some pretty high hopes you got there. Being S-class doesn't mean you can beat me, it means that you're a capable wizard who can stand his own ground. From this fight I have determined you are." Natsu summarized as he turned around and escaped the light into the shadow.

* * *

That was way longer than I expected, yuy! I thought the fight was pretty cool, I won't bother with the rest of them though. So next chapter we're gonna go deeper into the Tenrou arc, but I did get the introduction off nicely! At least, that's what I want to believe. Anyways I'll see y'all when I get 'nuther one done!


	46. Chapter 46

Alright people I'm back yet again after playing gamez and watchin' vids from those very gamez. Now we're gonna go back to not-so-gamez and write some chappies, as such is my plan... My plans totally work out ... like ... ever ... at all. Enough of my inefficient plans, let's get my ... Occupation *whink* going.

* * *

After recapping the fight and making sure he had made the right decision, Natsu raised himself from the ground and made his way out of the cave. When he reached the exit the smell of cooked meat was filling his nostrils. He followed the scent and arrived at the guild's camp. After greeting and waving at a lot of people he made his way over to the S-class group. Mirajane was found as the source of the delicious scent, she was cooking for the group.

"Ah, Natsu. I see you let Gray pass, I thought your rivalry might have clouded that decision." Erza notified. Gray sat down at the table in the middle of the tent as he grumbled.

"This is bigger than our past rivalry. I'm here to make sure he's capable of being S-class, not to toy with him. I say his strength in combat qualifies him for that cause." Natsu explained with his eyes closed and his hands joined together before his eyes. He opened these slightly and glared at Erza.

"Anyways, so how'd your fights go?" The fire mage asked as he cheered up and got rid of the serious mood.

"Pretty tough, I had to fight Freed." Mirajane replied shortly.

"Yeah, Freed's definitely capable. He's a tough guy and definitely has a decent chance in this exam." Natsu commented.

"Alzack faced me." Erza smirked as she spoke the strong words.

"Hm? 'Faced' eh? Well I feel sorry for him, poor guy seemed really anxious to perform too. Now he's getting kicked out round one." Natsu sympathized with the gun mage.

"You can say that again, the brat is too obsessed with Bisca to do anything for himself." Master Makarov joined the conversation.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing." Natsu countered.

"Devoting yourself so much to one person sounds pretty terrible to me." Makarov stated bluntly as he raised his cup to his mouth.

"Master, that's because you ARE terrible." Natsu smiled as he patted Makarov's shoulders, who grunted and smashed a titan fist down on the fire mage. When his fist returned to normal, the fire that had appeared around it formed Natsu's body.

"That's extremely irritating, you know that?" The old man returned to his drink.

"Anyways, so what about the other fights?" Natsu asked.

"Gajeel passed Gildarts, who ofc went about it the same way you did. Bickslow won against Elfman and Wendy won against Cana." Mirajane answered.

"Wendy passed? Awesome! Uh, Mira? Elfman just got a bad matchup, Bickslow is definitely a tough opponent." Natsu cheered until he saw Mirajane was a bit sad.

"I know, but he's really down. I'm just worried he'll do something he'll regret." She looked down at the food. Natsu tinkered for a moment until he headed off. He ran off to the beach and saw the the muscled man was sitting right there. On the sand he could see Elfman. Natsu closed the distance until he sad down next to him.

"Did nee-chan send you? I don't need someone cheering me up." Elfman grunted, looking at the sea.

"Nope, she doesn't know where I am right now." Natsu mimicked Elfman as he did not divert his eyes from the sea.

"Then why are you here?" The silver-haired man asked, turning towards Natsu.

"Elfman, what's a man to you?" Natsu asked him.

"Certainly something I'm not." Elfman glared forward, once again.

"That didn't answer my question." The fire mage calmly replied.

"A man is someone who ... Is really strong. It's manly to be strong." Elfman retorted. He was surprised to hear Natsu chuckle.

"Strength can be measured in many ways, it's not only strong to be like you're implying what strength truly means. To me, true strength means you are relentless. A man is someone who won't sit down and gloom over one defeat, but rise and find a way to earn the victory he couldn't get before. How do you think I got where I am now? I didn't become king of the fire dragons because I sat on my ass for two years." Natsu wisely spoke with a slight touch of humor to it.

"So you're saying my strength comes from my persistance?" Elfman recieved a nod to his question.

"So if I just persevere and train, I can eventually win any battle!" He raised his fist.

"You're getting manlier by the seconed." Natsu grinned at him. Elfman turned to the fire mage with a smile and patted his shoulders.

"Thanks, Natsu." They both got up and returned to camp. Mirajane was happy to see her brother's smile again and knew Natsu was the cause of it. When she looked at him he merely gave her a whink. Natsu proceeded to find Wendy and took a seat next to her.

"Hey there, so you passed huh? How was the fight?" Natsu sat cross-legged next to the sky dragon slayer as he high-fived her.

"Pretty tiring, Cana had a lot of cards with a lot of effects! But I managed to blow some right back at her, like the fire, water and wind ones!" Wendy explained her experience as she overexaggerated with motions. Natsu smiled at the young girl next to him. Wendy continued to tell him what kind of stuff Cana had done until they were told to group up for briefing over the next trial.

"Alright, better get up and go." Natsu spoke as he stood up from the ground and gave Wendy a hand. She took it and got up herself. When they all stood before master Makarov he explained how the next event would commence.

"The second trial will simulate how you can lead or work in a team. As an S-class mage you will go on dangerous missions and sometimes they will require the aid of a group. To complete these missions without harm to your team requires a clear mind and tactical capabilities. This is something where even the mages the failed the previous round, can get back on track. If you failed previously but succeed in this round, you can still become an S-class mage. Now, the eight of you will be split up in two groups. You will each get a camp to you where you have supplies. You are to steal the enemies' supplies. The S-class mages will roam around in between the camps in teams of two. They will try to steal the supplies you have with you at that time or take you out of the battle temporarily. You must all coordinate yourself accordingly and adapt to your numbers and strengths." Master Makarov finished his explenation.

"Now, the teams that you are divided in are the following: Bickslow, Gajeel, Wendy and Alzack in team A. Cana, Freed, Elfman and Gray make team B. I will give you an hour to prepare with your team before the actual trial commences, I hope you all will use this time as efficient as possible." Makarov finished as he walked away from the group. The S-class mages assigned them their camps and allowed them their time to set up.

"I think we should split our group into offensive and defensive pairs, agreed?" Freed immediatly came down to business as he gathered his group around a table.

"Yeah, that would make sense." Cana confirmed her interest in the proposal.

"Cana and me would be best suited for the defensive style, so I think it would be best to leave the stealing of the enemies' supplies to you, Gray, Elfman." Freed suggested. The two men nodded as they were getting excited for the job.

"Leave it to us!" Gray pointed at himself and Elfman.

"Understood, I'll immediatly set up defensive runes. Cana, I trust you have some trap cards in that arsenal of yours?" Freed turned to the woman.

"Of course I do." She looked away from him as she replied.

"Good, we'll see how we can make a strong setup when we get started. I think it would be best for the two of you if you let Gray do the sneaking and stealing while Elfman takes the opponents' attention." They all nodded. Freed seemed to be suited for the job of leading a party into battle. At the other side of the area team A was trying to set up as well.

"What good will she be to the team?" Gajeel was arguing about Wendy not being much use to the group.

"Are you kidding me? She will drastically increase our battle strength and her Vernier will definitely help snatch those supplies and possibly even evade the runes Freed undoubtedly set up." Bickslow retorted.

"Agreed, anyone can be useful if the plan is adapt to his/hers strengths, Gajeel." Alzack proposed yet another argument.

"Hmpf, fine then." He went quiet, waiting for his partners to mention a strategy.

"So how're we gonna go about this? Our objective is to steal the enemies' supplies, but we can't leave ours undefended." Alzack asked the group.

"I say Wendy and Gajeel should definitely try to go for the enemy. Gajeel is by far our brutest force and Wendy can support him tremendously. Alzack I trust your scouting and detection skills and with your extended range you can definitely be suited to defend a set up perimiter. I think with my medium ranged combat style I can be suited for both, but I think that we should focus more on the offensive to overthrow them since their defense is definitely strong with Freed alone." Freed ran over a potential divertion of their strength. The party seemed to agree and thought it was a good plan. They stood up and ran over potential outcomes while Alzack scouted the perimiter around the camp.

After the hour had passed, the deep sound of a horn echoes throughout the forest, symbolizing the start of the second trial.

* * *

Alright so it hasn't had the most action but I thought it was kinda chill, while writing this I actually thought on how to go about the future parts of this arc. Sorry if you liked Cana's background thingy but I really didn't care about it so I didn't bother to bring it up. Now this is different from canon, I like it a bit more :) Now thanks y'all for spending your time on this chapter and once again I'll be back with a future chapter, I wish I could talk to the me in the AN from the future chapter, that would be interesting. Why can't I like save myself from older dates on a piece of paper and then let two me's talk to each other and stuff, c'mon that would be frickin' rad. Anyways enough rambling about stuff that interests about like one person out there, later!


	47. Chapter 47

Second trial starting, we got this. I hope y'all had an enjoyable time reading the story so far! We're nearing freaking 150 followers already! This is going great, I'm telling ya! Although now Gmail decided is no longer spam so my inbox if freaking flooded, damn it. Look what you people are doing to me, you're making me ... UNORGANIZED! Such horror! Nah, don't really care :P Anyways let's get going with the chapter.

* * *

The deep sound of a horn echoed throughout the forest. To the mages, it meant the start of the second trial. They were on high alert or attempting to hide themselves from sight. Gajeel, Wendy and Bickslow were slowly moving their way to the enemy by the edge of the terrain they were assigned to. Wendy was right behind Gajeel, who was leading the way with his nose. Bickslow was slightly above them in the treetops, providing ranged support when needed but mostly for the element of surprise.

Few miles away, Elfman and Gray were advanced towards enemy territory. They had no idea what to expect or how the enemy would have built their defenses. They knew Freed was not to be underestimate and had not a single doubt in the safekeeping of their supplies, it was up to them to succeed in the actual objective.

"As soon as we get near their camp, I'm gonna make an ice dummy of myself. That's gonna stick with you until I got the stuff we need, then we make a run for it." Gray explained what he had in mind and recieved a nod from Elfman. The two made sure to make as little noise as possible, until they heard a vague sound.

"Shhh! ... Did you hear that?" Gray whispered to his partner.

"I'm not sure, but it wasn't nothing." Elfman answered with slight worry in his voice.

"Hmm, let's just keep moving." The ice mage suggested as he turned but was met by a combustion of purple fire.

"Missed me?" The white-eyes face covered with purple fire that appeared in front of him asked. Gray knew it was Natsu who was messing with him and a simple message played in his mind.

'S-class mage = run!' He turned and yelled at Elfman to do as he did while he made a run for it but was met by a demon's fist. As he was knocked on the ground he caught a glimpse of a snicker.

"Nee-chan[Sister]!" Elfman cried horrified, it had been long since he'd seen her combat-ready. And now he was going to experience it first hand. She crouched before him, gently.

"Don't worry, I won't lay a finger on you." She smiled brightly. Elfman looked at her confused until he was blasted to the ground by an extremely hot force.

"Sorry Elfman, we're not here to go easy on you guys. You and Gray'll have to sit out for five minutes." Natsu apologized as he produced a copy of himself to watch over the two mages.

"Natsu, I've seen that purple fire too much. I wanna see that bright and crimson fire again!" Mirajane pouted, something about that fire just made her worry. She felt really uneasy by it.

"Oh, well that's not a problem. Let's go light 'em up then!" Natsu anxiously shouted as the color he radiated changed from a dark purple to a bright crimson. Mirajane smiled at him when she saw the warm color fill the area around them.

"Besides, I was getting bored of acting all sneaky anyways. It was fun for a bit but now I just wanna punch people when they see it coming." Natsu added as he punched his palm. They then left the two mages be and embarked to patrol the area once more.

"We're getting close, I can smell Cana's drunk breath from here." Gajeel informed his group, disgust radiating from his face.

"Good. Wendy, keep your buffs ready. Gajeel, make sure to tell us when we should prepare for battle. As soon as Wendy gets you ready, you just charge right through 'em and go for their goodies. I'll see what I can do from a distance while Wendy will make sure to throw 'em off!" Bickslow ordered them as he flew up high again. Gajeel grunted but that was quickly replaced by a grin. He hated to be ordered around but was happy to get some action as well. A few minutes later Gajeel raised his fist. His party remained still behind him and awaited further instructions. The iron dragon slayer attempted to inform them using handsigns but Bickslow and Wendy just stared at the hand, perplexed.

"God damn it, Gajeel! Words exist for a reason!" Bickslow silently yelled at him. Gajeel grommed, silencing him.

"It wouldn't surprise me if there would be a ton of rune traps from now on. We should watch our steps, expect anything. Bickslow, Freed probably set some up for flying invaders as well, so careful!" Gajeel angrily whispered at them.

"Gotcha." Bickslow nodded before he descended. The scent filling the iron dragon slayer's nose was becoming stronger and stronger by the second. They noticed the light of a tent, and silenced all of the possible sound they could produce. As they neared, Gajeel jumped in with Vernier applied to find nothing but an empty bottle and a pile of books. Wendy quickly rushed behind him and was dumbfounded as she found no one but her partner in there.

"God damn it, get out of there!" Bickslow shouted before a wall of runes rose from the ground around them.

"Curse that rune freak!" Gajeel muttered. The runes showed the rules applied to them on one of the sides.

"These runes will allow passage when the following words has been spoken: qefavces piolk;,dv" The message finished. With them were a pile of books that held a lot of information about runes and could supposedly help them decipher the word.

"Damn it, we don't have time for this!" Bickslow cursed. Gajeel looked at the letters one by one curiously, tinkering about something.

"Huh? Gajeel-san, is something the matter?" Wendy innocently asked when she noticed him staring at the word.

"Hold on, wait... Hmmm. What about 'Laxus Lightning'?" Gajeel tried, the runes faded and they were safe to leave. The two partners stood perplexed, surprised the iron dragon slayer was capable of reading it.

"It's only because of Levy." He blushed slightly as he looked away from them.

"Anyways, let's go." Gajeel waved at them. They now slowly proceeded their trip to the enemy camp.

"So where do we go now? How can we be sure we've got the right scent going?" Bickslow asked.

"I'll try to find a more suitable scent, it was naïve to think Cana's booze would bring us there." Gajeel replied, sniffing around.

"Pretty sure Freed can't mimick his own smell." He grinned before increasing his pace. The group followed quickly. Gajeel halted them again before he smiled.

"What now?" Wendy asked him.

"I think I just found our free ticket through the runehell." The iron mage pointed forward, at Gildarts and Erza who were crashing their way through the land.

"I see. He's constantly exposing crash magic, breaking the runes before they can be activated. As long as we stick to their footsteps, we should be fine." Bickslow summarized Gajeel's thought process.

"Exactly, stay quiet and follow." Gajeel commanded as he started moving again.

"We're be-" Erza started to whisper but was silenced by Gildarts.

"Yeah, I know. Don't let them notice, though. Might be more fun this way." The Fairy Tail ace grinned as he continued his way through the forest.

"Man, when will we find someone? Where're they all hiding at?" Natsu cried towards the sky.

"I don't think the people up there'll tell you." Mirajane smiled, she always found this kind of behavior from her mate amusing.

"We won't know until we try, right?" He commented, making her nod with, yet again, that heartwarming smile of hers.

"I hear someone." Natsu grinned as he set himself ablaze. Mirajane chuckled at the fire mage's anxiety. When they walked forward, it wasn't someone familiar that they met.

"Uhm, hello? He's not from Fairy Tail, what's he doing here? Natsu?" Mirajane turned to her mate to see his eyes were widened and his mouth was gaping.

"Y-You!" He pointed at the black-haired man. This person raised his head to show his tears.

"Natsu? Natsu, can you do it? Do you think you can do it? Might I finally be ended." He whispered to himself.

"What?" Mirajane asked, she was extremely confused as to who this person was and how Natsu knew him.

"Argh! It's coming! Please, go away!" The man yelled at them before he crumbled to the ground. Black energy seemed to be collected around him. Natsu noticed this and was confused. When he suddenly saw the energy erupt and expand in a circle he immediatly shielded Mirajane with his own body. When the take over mage opened her eyes to see her mate, she was relieved that he did not seem to be in great pain. When she sat up she noticed the black scorchmarks and fire across his body.

"Natsu, when did you get black fire?" She asked him. Natsu himself looked curiously at her. He checked out his body and was surprised to see where the question came from.

"I.. I don't know, I didn't have it before." He replied. When he ignited his fists, the same black fire appeared. The fire mage seemed in shock because of this.

"What is it?" Mirajane quickly asked.

"I can't... I can't use my own fire."

* * *

Heh, here we go. This chapter was a lot more action-packed than the last one. I really like Freed and Bickslow as characters. They're pretty badass :P So I turned Zeref's encounter a little more ... dramatic. Lemme know whatcha think, it's always appreciated! Anyways, see y'all some time soon!


	48. Chapter 48

Had a lot of time, just didn't make use of it. Damn me, I have to get this done for reals now! We're gonna continue from where we left off, or at least try to. Had someone asking me to make sure Natsu would get his fire back. Don't worry, of course he's gonna get it back! Anyways, let's move on.

* * *

"W-What? Why? What happened?" The concern in Mirajane's voice was obvious, as the shock was in Natsu's.

"I don't know, it just happened... and he di-" The fire mage turned to see no one was by them, the black-haired man had disappeared and left them to themselves.

"Where'd he go?" Natsu asked.

"Natsu, did you know him from somewhere?" Mirajane countered with her own question.

"Eh ... Remember that bad dream I had back at Crocus? Well ... He was in it." He skeptically explained.

"He was in your nightmare? And you're sure you hadn't seem him before?" Mirajane continued throwing questions at him.

"Yeah, I'm certain. But, how the heck do I get my own magic back?!" He yelled aloud.

"Calm down, we should talk to master about this." She suggested.

"You're right, but let me go alone." He nodded.

"No way in he-" The woman started before she was silenced by Natsu.

"I don't want to cause any form of panic, if we're not sure we need everybody's assistance we should leave them out of it. I want as few people included in this whole .. situation." He sighed at himself as he stood up.

"Make sure to act like nothing happened." Natsu left when he recieved her nod.

'Make sure to be safe...' She thought as she watched him walk off into the wild.

"Man, why does this kind of stuff happen to me?" Natsu slowly made his way to camp while looking at the stars with his hands behind his head.

"I wish I could ju-woah!" He muttered as he tripped over a small object. As he scratched his head he turned to see what it was and was met by the kind and innocent face of Wendy. Her mouth was kept shut by the hand of an iron dragon slayer.

"N-Natsu?" She asked as her eyes widened, same for her partners.

"Mirajane can't be far, run for it!" Gajeel yelled as he escaped in the forest.

"Natsu? How did you get burned?" Wendy asked, concern filling her eyes as she stared at the fire mage's wounds.

"Shouldn't you be ... running?" Natsu menacingly spoke as he glared at the small girl. She sweated before running off, following her teammates.

'Phew, close call.' He turned to immediatly bump into Gildarts.

"Natsu, what's with those burnmarks? The hell?" Gildarts moved closer to observe the wounds on Natsu's body.

"The hell happened to you?" He asked. Natsu pushed him to the side and kept walking.

"I need to talk to master about something." He waved them off as he continued walking.

"We better make sure those guys don't get away without a fight." Erza's hand topped Gildarts' shoulder, waking him up from his train of thought.

"Right, though I'm worried." He replied.

"It's Natsu, when are we not worried?" Erza jokingly spoke as she turned around.

"Fair enough." Gildarts smiled while he followed the armor mage.

"Where're you going?" Mirajane popped out a bush, surprising the running group of mages.

"I told you she wouldn't be far behind.." Gajeel muttered.

"So what's it gonna be? Fight or run? I'm fine with either, just means I get to play more or less." Mirajane licked her fingertips, giving the words an even more scary effect on them.

"I think I'll opt for getting the heck out of here, thank you." Bickslow flew up high.

"Think I gotta agree with my teammate on this one." Gajeel spoke while passing Mirajane. She was now intently staring down at Wendy.

"Well?" She asked, awaiting the dragon slayer's next move.

"I-Is Natsu ok?" She asked.

"N-Natsu? Yeah ... He's fine. Why?" Mirajane stuttered slightly, surprised by the question.

'So she noticed, huh?' The take over mage thought.

"Ok, I just saw some we-" She was silenced by Mirajane tackling her.

"Now, flee or fight?" Mirajane licked her lips while looking down at the girl, who squeeked and tried to wurm herself loose from her grip.

"Do I still have that choice?" Wendy asked. She opened her eyes to see an iron pole push Mirajane off her.

"Get up and run already!" Gajeel screamed at her, she realized what happened and ran for it.

"Stupid Gajeel and his stupid iron, that stuff hurts." Mirajane sulked as she rubbed her cheek.

"I hope Natsu'll be fine." She whispered as her thoughts drifted wildly.

"Yo, master!" Natsu called out, finding the camp.

"Hm, Natsu?! What are you doing here?" Makarov immediatly asked.

"Well, just look at me." He widened his arms, giving the old man a clear vision of his charred body.

"What happened to you?" He looked over all the wounds Natsu had.

"My thoughts exactly, I have no idea." Natsu raised his shoulders.

"When Mirajane and me were walking through the forest we came along this guy. He had black hair, we hadn't seen him before. Well, I had. I have seen him in a bad dream before, but that's it. He suddenly crumbled to the ground and freaked out. Saying 'it was coming'. Then some kind of black energy collected around him. When it expanded I covered Mirajane with my body. After that I was like this." Natsu lit his hands with the black fire. The description Natsu gave shocked Makarov.

"I certainly hope you have not met who I think it was. But I doubt it is, if it were you'd probably be dead. However we can be sure that it was a dark mage, one that uses black magic. He must not have had it under control or something and released a lot of it. I presume this black energy is corrupting your own. So until we purge you of it, you won't be able to properly use your magic." Makarov explained what had to be done.

"So how do we do that?" Natsu stared at Makarov, expecting a clear answer.

"I don't know, I think we'll have to ask Porlyusica on that one." This bummed Natsu down.

"Does that mean I can't be part of the exams anymore?" He asked with a sad tone.

"Unless you can figure out how to get your magic under control, no." Makarov replied.

"That doesn't sound too terrible, with Igneel I might be able to do that." Natsu cheered up as he walked off to a clearing a bit away from the camp so he could meditate.

"That boy's gonna get himself killed one day..." Makarov stared at Natsu as he drunk his booze.

"Alright, let's see what Igneel's got for us." The fire mage sat completely still on a rock and closed his eyes. Soon his breathing slowed down as well as his heart. Natsu was slowly entering his own mind to speak with the soul it was housing.

"So, we're back again, are we?" Igneel met him with his typical cheerful laugh.

"I need help, you know what happened?" Natsu cut to the chase, ignoring Igneel's mocking.

"Of course I do, I'm in your head. So ... You met Zeref." The dragon collected his thoughts.

"Zeref, is that the one gramps was talking about?" The fire mage asked.

"Sure is, no other has magic as dark as this." Igneel pointed towards the black flame before them.

"So in here too, huh?" Natsu intently stared at the flame, wondering what he could do to use it properly.

"Don't even think about it." Igneel read his mind as if he lived in it, oh wait, he does.

"Wh-" Natsu looked over at him.

"I said no. This is magic far darker than you've ever known. We're speaking of Zeref, you have no idea what kind of trouble that involved." Igneel replied before Natsu could even properly finish his sentence.

"But I need to be able to fight." Natsu countered.

"No, you don't. This island is safe enough and I don't think you are absolutely required for those brats to finish their exams." Igneel shut him down, Natsu was left with no option but to agree.

"Fine, I'll sit there and be useless for the rest of the time." Natsu muttered as he woke up from his slumber...

"Are we sure he's on this island?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

"Certainly." A simply reply followed.

"I can't wait to hold Zeref in my own hands!" A female voice mentioned.

"The island of the fairies, Tenroujima. This place brings back memories..."

* * *

I'm really starting to like this twist in the Tenrou arc, believe it or not. I'm sure you can all appreciate some variety as well. I definitely have some stuff planned out for the future and I hope you guys will like it. I'll hope to see y'all by that time!


	49. Chapter 49

I told y'all I'd be back! yet again, 'nuther chappy. I'm gonna try to get Natsu involved in the situation in a different way from canon, as you might have already figured. To the few people that care: Been playing lots of Hearthstone, Dota 2 and Borderlands 2. Psyched for the Curse of Naxramas update and Techies hero! Now that I've satisfied like ... nobody with this information, let's move on. I'm really liking the Tenrou arc this way, let's see what we get from this point on!

* * *

Natsu grunted on his way back to the camp. He looked at the black fire engulfing his hands once more.

"Why, damn it?! Why'd this have to happen? I can't stand being useless!" He smashed his fists down on the ground. When he opened his eyes, there seemed to be black cracks spreading through the ground.

"So that's it's attribute, eh? Hmm, what if... Seeing as how this black magic corrupted my own, I should be fine if I release enough of it. Just gotta make sure I stay away from anyone so that nobody'll get hurt." Natsu muttered his train of thought, he seemed to think of the corrupted fire as a new flame that he merely had too much of.

"Alright, let's give this a shot." He spoke after walking about a mile away from the camp. He lit his fists on fire, and heavily punched the rock before him. He watched the black cracks spread over it's surfact, until the rock became nothing but a pile of dust.

"Decay... I guess I'll roll with it." Much like the spectral flame, it didn't exactly seem like Natsu's style at first. But he himself was certain that if he'd let it be, he could gain the ability to properly control the flame and use it in combat. The fire mage kept on pulverizing rocks and other inanimate objects without harming nature too much. He had to admit, after tens of minutes of doing this he felt a bit more at east. He felt pressure subside.

"Hey, I think this might be-Aagh!" Natsu held onto his stomach and crumbled to the ground. His palm supporting him and keeping his face from reaching the earth. The pain was intense, he had no idea what was causing this. Suddenly, he stopped shivering. Natsu calmly stood up without any sign of what just happened. When he opened his eyes, the Onyx was replaced by a color representing blood.

"I'm sensing his magic..." Was heard in a flying ship above the island.

"Do you think he'd just show himself like that?" Someone questioned.

"There's no doubt, it's his, why or how doesn't matter." A reply came quickly.

"Our objective is clear: Capture him. What else happens on the island is irrelevant." Instrictions followed as the group nodded.

"It's time to make our move..." With that, the room was cleared of the mages but one.

"Let's see how you do... Makarov."

"You think we lost 'em?" Gajeel called out to his friends.

"Probably, I haven't seen them chase us in the first place." Bickslow checked behind him. They all remained stationary and captured their breaths.

"Why does such an adorable little fairy have to sit in between the tall men, brawling amongst themselves?" An unfamiliar voice came from nearby.

"Huh? Who's there?" Gajeel immediatly was aware of the fact this wasn't anyone they knew. A silver-haired man stepped out of the bushes.

"Having just entered the garden of Eden, is the king of the underworld. The name I have been given is 'Rustyrose', please to make your acquintance, fairies." Rustyrose bowed before them.

"Ignoring the fact that you make no sense at all, the hell are you doing here?" Gajeel retorted.

"So you don't care about anything but the core, very well. I am here in the name of 'Grimoire Heart', a dark guild you must be familiar with. We are here to collect someone from this island." The man explained.

"There's no one on this island but our guild, and apparently you and whoever you brought along." Bickslow joined Gajeel.

"Oh, but that is where you are mistaken. This island is housing a very ... peculiar wizard. I'm sure you all know the black wizard Zeref." Seeing as how the name didn't have the foreseen effect, Rustyrose was dumbfounded.

"You actually do not know of him?" The Fairy Tail mages before him shook their head.

"It is a history I won't explain to the likes of you, now, you are in the way. What happens on this island is irrelevant to our objective, all we need is Zeref." The silver-haired man seemed to prepared for battle, the Fairy Tail mages did the same.

"Sacred Guardian Beast: Belcusas the Thunderclap!" A call came from Rustyrose before an enormous beast materliazed before them.

"Summoning magic?" Wendy asked before they all dodged the incoming blow from the monster.

"Therer's a simple weakness to such magic, and that is how weak the user himself is." Gajeel muttered as he charged through the beast's legs to Rustyrose.

"Pegasus Wings!" The dark mage flew up high, avoiding Gajeel's strike.

"Iron Dragon's Iron Pole!" A solid metal pole rose up and hit him in the stomach.

"Bickslow, an airial fight seems more like your style, I'll try to keep that thing from meddling!" Gajeel hadn't lost his cool because of his opponent's surprising magic. Instead he immediatly thought of their best course of action.

"You got it!" Bickslow evaded Belcusas' fist slamming down onto the ground and rose to Rusty's height.

"Quite some interesting fellas, you are. But I doubt you can beat the power of my very imagination." The words slightly concerned Bickslow.

'Imagination? What's he talking about?' The thoughts were answered by his opponents' arm turning into a black pair of spiked tentacles.

"jet Black Sword!" The spikes quickly made their way over to Bickslow, who seemed unphased by the attack. Rusty's strike was cut off by shots of Bickslow's puppets.

"You all really are some special folks. Capricorn told me you lot should not be underestimated, but I didn't expect such gifted mages amonst you." He praised the skill of his opponent.

"I don't think you've captured this yet, it's physically impossible for us to die on this island." Bickslow coldly brought out.

"Come again?" The silver-haired mage showed signs of confusion.

"Anyone with a mark like this-" Bickslow pointed at his tongue, which was covered by a black Fairy Tail mark. "Will recieve Divine Protection when located on this island." He finished explaining.

"Interesting, not that it matters. Against my magic, I doubt you stand a chance." He spoke with a cocky attitude.

"It's weird, I expect we would've at least gotten signs of their presence by now." Freed thought aloud.

"Perhaps the dumbasses got lost." Cana grinned. She was enjoying the ease of the challenge until now.

"Wait! One of our traps was just set off nearby!" The rune mage alerted his ally.

"Shit, better get ready!" Cana got up from her sitting position and stationed herself at the edge of their camp.

"Make sure they don't get to us unnoticed!" Freed ordered her.

"I'm afraid you have already failed to do so." A voice came from behind Freed, when he turned he was met by an unfamiliar person.

"You're no Fairy Tail mage." He muttered as he backed away from this stranger.

"Good that you've noticed. I am here to complete Grimoire Heart's current objective." He explained calmly.

"Grimoire Heart..." Freed knew what the name meant.

"I am Azuma, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. I am looking for someone who can provide a challenge to me. That is my personal goal." The man admitted.

"As a member of Fairy Tail I cannot let you walk this soil without a fight. I will be happy to give you the challenge you hope to face." Freed stood up and unsheathed his sword.

"You are unknown, are you sure you can suffice as a challenge to me?" Azuma asked, doubting Freed's strength.

"I am certainly no weakling, if I could pass for a challenge is for you to decide." The rune mage countered.

"Dark Ecriture: Wings." Freed inscribed his arm with runes, followed by the appearance of dark wings on his back.

"A rune mage, interesting." Was Azuma's only comment.

"Chain Burst." The man rose his hand in Freed's direction. Roots rose from the ground, ensnaring Freed's limbs. Shortly afterwards they exploded, Freed was forced to the ground and was severly injured by the impact.

"Freed!" Cana ran over to him.

"Don't bother, I'm fine. Don't barge in on the fight, we'll see if I can fit for a challenge." He sat up and spoke with a smile on his face.

Away from the fight, we can see Natsu wander aimlessly. However, he was being followed by two mages.

"You sure that's him? He isn't exactly like we pictured." Zancrow, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, asked his companion.

"He has to be, you know it's that magic." Ultear Milkovich, another member of this group, replied.

"Let's put his strength to the test then, we don't want to be himuliated when we bring a weakling on the ship." The blonde mage grinned as a large fiery and black orb was launched at Natsu. When the smoke cleared, they watched the smoke clear. Much to their surprise, all the attack had done was made Natsu stop walking. When he turned his head slightly, they were met with the icy death stare coming from the blood-red eyes.

"Shine![Die!]" Came from Natsu. As his shadow morphed, it made it's way to the fire mage. Natsu's shadow then proceeded to strangle Zancrow. The dark mage grasped for his throat, starting to breathe heavily. It didn't take long before his lifeless body fell to the ground. Ultear was perplexed. When she returned her eyes to the mage before her, she bowed.

"Zeref, I have finally found you. After so long, I am finally allowed to meet you in person." She cried as if this was the happiest moment of her life. Natsu paid no attention to her and just turned to keep walking.

* * *

I want to apologize for the lazy combat but I really wanted to skip to the really interesting parts, being mostly Natsu as he is right now. Next chapter will definitely be the end of the Tenrou arc with Acnologia's reunion. Make sure to check on how this encounter will end! See y'all when you do!


	50. Chapter 50

Apologies for the delay, rounded up Valin's Tenrou chapter last night. I'm no longer going to beta read for him as I need to prepare for some stuff, as in ... next year's great educational CRAP! Anyways, we've got this situation here. we'll be moving forward through the arc at a faster rate now. And we've also made it to like CHAPPAH 50 YO! We've made it near 100K words, near 150 followers and have 50 chapters out now. Dang, those are some sweet stats. Now, here comes chappah 50.

* * *

Natsu woke up in an empty space, burning in black fire. After looking, he found nothing besides Igneel looking at him with not the friendliest of faces.

"You idiot! I told you not to make use of this black magic, now look at what you've done!" The dragon pointed at the surrounding area.

"W-What's going on? Where are we?" Natsu ignored the lecture from the dragon by asking the questions that came with his confusion.

"We're in the same place we always meet, your subconscious. Currently, however, this place is bathing in that black magic you were so willing to accept into your system." Igneel spat in his face.

"So, if I'm here, the hell's happening out there?" Natsu looked around, looking for a sign of the events in the outside world.

"No idea, but your body's moving alright. No idea who's in charge of it, though." His foster parent explained.

"Something's controlling my body then? Damn it, I might get to harm people from the guild if I don't get out of this mess!" The fire mage slammed the ground, the flames temporarily subsided at the place of impact. Natsu took notice of this and proceeded to rise to his feet.

"Well, no use in sitting here and doing nothing." Was all he said before he left off into the darkness of his own mind.

Ultear was still chasing Natsu, or his body at least, through the forest. He wasn't bothered with the female mage, which was rather surprising to her. She noticed the man before her halting his movement. He was looking up at the bright moon, radiating over Tenroujima. This same moon could be seen by two mages who were anxious for a fight.

"A challenge you want, a challenge you get. Dark Écriture: Absolute Shadow." Freed swung his sword sideways, writing runes before him. The effect of the runes seemed rather drastic as they changed Freed's very appearance. Azuma was surprised to see the man before him change into a dark-colored armor set, covering his upper body. His hair was slicked back and protruded from the back of the helmet. Azuma's watchful eyes awaited the rune mage's next move. He was instantly surprised by Freed's newly gained speed, he had already neared before Azuma could register what happened. However, this wasn't enough to strike the dark mage. Branches grew from the ground to protect him, while Azuma didn't move a single inch.

"I must say you're definitely a strong opponent." Freed praised his opponent as he backed away from him.

"You are not to be underestimated either." Azuma returned. Freed dashed sideways again, attempting to bait out an attack.

"Folium Sica!" Azuma casted his spell, which is what Freed was hoping for. However, the rune mage didn't expect the spell to have this kind of speed to it. There was a massive funnel of leaves soaring through the air around them, looking to harm Freed. Even with his increased speed, dodging this spell took some serious effort. As he moved towards a tree, he ran up to the top to evade the lethal leaves that were now cutting straight through the bark. Freed had to find a quick way to get to Azuma rather than fool around with this kind of stuff. When he looked around, he noticed Azuma's absence.

'Crap, where's he gone off to?' He asked himself, the answer came quicker than expected. A massive fist of wood emerged from the tree he stood on and punched him to the ground. Freed quickly got up to his feet and was quick enough to get a hold on Azuma's head before it vanished into the wood of the tree. He was trying to keep Azuma from surprising him again using this magic. In the process he was causing heavy damage to the tree mage, releasing shock from his handpalms. He could hear his opponent start to scream, his head was being pulled from his body with great force while being fried by electrocution. Eventually the spell let loose and Freed was able to retrieve Azuma's whole body from the wood. The sudden release forced them both to fall off the branch. The wings Freed was capable of giving himself allowed him to regain his balance faster than his opponent, which he took advantage of. An uppercut to the face is what Azuma took. The force of the blow should've made him fly quite some ditance, but Freed grabbed a hold of his leg before this could happen. He pulled him back and collected his fists together to smash him down. When Azuma reached the ground he was hit yet again but one of Freed's spells.

"Dark Écriture: Destruction!" Came as Freed dived onto Azuma's body. Right before he landed his magic released from the sharp fingertips of the armor he was wearing and slashed him in an X-shape, causing heavy destruction to below him, and Azuma himself. Freed slowly stood back up and watched over Azuma's body, when he noticed his lips move slightly his eyes widened.

"Tower Burst." He understood before he was blasted backwards by a huge pillar of fire raging around the dark mage. Freed crashed into a tree, breaking certain parts of the armor. His right eyes was now visible and his left shoulder pad was now broken. He watched the fire subside and his opponent standing up.

"You've given me quite the enjoyable fight, until now." Azuma seemed overjoyed, was a challenging opponent really that important to him?

"Agre-argh, agreed." Freed slowly stood up as well. Both gave one another an intent stare before they rushed forwards.

"Ramus Sica!" Azuma unleashed another flurry of leaves, more potent this time. He could see Freed's right eye start to glow dark. He knew he had to make quick work of this before his opponent could cast his magic. Azuma moved the leaves around, distorting his opponents view and forcing out evasions. When they were near, Freed had to dodge beneath the sharp leaves but was surprised to see Azuma leap over him. While soaring upside-down above him, Azuma had his palm stretched out beneath him.

"Bleve." An extremely bright and directed explosion rained down on Freed. When the smoke faded, his entire chestpiece was torn apart. Freed's chest was exposed and showed some heavy burn marks. The tree mage walked away from him.

"A great fight, it was." He spoke. However, his attentioned returned to Freed once he caught some slight whisperes. He saw Freed engrave some runes on his arm.

"Dark Écriture: Innervate." Is what he raid before the text disappated. Much to his surprise, the rune mage rose to his feet with immense speed and charged him. Azuma summoned roots to protect him from the incoming blow. Freed noticed a small spark from his left, followed by a sudden combustion of the roots. Through the newly created opening, his strike connected with Azuma. The force from the blow seemed so incredible, it threw Azuma through multiple tree lines. It didn't take long for Freed to collaps and the armor to disappear completely. He looked to his left and saw Cana holding a fire card. He had a smile on his face while he fainted.

"C'mon, there's gotta be SOMETHING." Natsu talked to himself while looking around in the darkness of his own mind. It had been hours since he set off from where Igneel was at. He was hoping to find something other than the pitch black flames that had overtaken his mind.

"Can't let.. whoever or whatever it is control my body and harm people with it." He promised as he kept moving forward. When he was about to close his eyes and catch some sleep he noticed something. Something, not so black. In the distance, he could see something. He closed in, hoping to have finally found something. He found, a purple flame.

"Wait, is this ... the spectral flame?" Natsu asked aloud as he neared it.

"Sure is!" A female voice echoed around him.

"Oh right, those flames embody your spirits. You're the spirit of this flame?" Natsu asked the fire before him.

"You got that right. I've seen you fight and use me, I've grown quite fond of you. Though, you've gotten yourself in quite some mess." Natsu was praised and mocked at once.

"Yeah ... I hate to ask this of you, but could you help me out with that?" Natsu hoped to gain something from finding this flame.

"I'm in your mind right now, if this place gets corrupted by that black pile of crap then I'm gonna suffer from it. Sure, I'll help you out." Much to Natsu's surprise, the flame jumped up and sat on his shoulder.

"You know from Igneel that I originate from the same fundaments as the shadow and dark magic. Now this crap we're walking in right now, is the latter. " she continued to explain.

"So isn't it kind of like a brother to you?" Natsu asked.

"Not at all, we're more like rivals. I despise him and he depises me. I'm real glad I don't have to hear his voice right now. Currently only the physical dark fire's here, going rampant. There's no spirit to control it, like with me."

"So we need to find a way to regulate this power and stop it from going berserk?" Natsu collected his thoughts all together.

"You could say that, but we're gonna need more than what we got for that. I'm sure your other flames are in here somewhere as well, better fetch them. Without them, it ain't happening. If you got 'em all, we could probably try to get a Rebuke going to we can get to control it." The spectral flame replied.

"The flame of Rebuke, but that one doesn't do all that much now does it?" Natsu tinkered about the golden flame.

"Offensively... no. But the flame of Rebuke is one for harmony and such. Move that into a situation like this one and you could compare it to a control core." An easy equation was presented to Natsu so he could understand.

"Right, let's get to find the others then."

"Btw, the name's Violet."

"Oh, I thought you were just purple." Natsu seemed surprised.

"Many people make that mistake." The female spirit sighed.

"Don't you worry, I'll make sure I'll get it right from now on, Violet." Natsu cheered her up.

"Thanks. You know, most people us spirit flames have been with were just interested in abusing our power. You're the first that seems actually cool with us, like we're actual people." She sounded satisfied when she told Natsu that.

"Huh? I think it's really cool that I get to talk to you, how many people can say they talk to their magic in spirit form? And who else could be a better teacher to use my magic than my own magic? Plus, you're really cool." Natsu complimented her. The flame now jumped off his shoulders.

"Something wrong?" He asked. Natsu was surprised to see the flame form the shape of a human body.

"No, I just thought you deserved to see what I look like." She seemed to have a really good figure going for her. Her long hair blazed down to her waist, the fire represented nothing more than the shape of her body but so far it was looking rather good.

"Can't say I mind." Natsu flashed his toothy grin. This made her look away, presumably blushing of some sort.

"Thank you." She replied.

"Huh?"

"For being so nice to me, you have no idea how much it means to me." She looked slightly embarassed.

"Hey, if anyone's gotta thank the other it's me. You're the one helping me with this mess" Natsu countered.

"I guess I'll make you return the favor later then." She punched his shoulder softly, smiling.

"Does that mean I'll get to talk to you even after this mess?" Natsu turned to her.

"Sure thing, any time you want." She replied.

"That sounds awesome!" He cheered, making her smile.

* * *

The battle was pretty intense. I really liked the last part, though. Was a ton of fun to write. Couldn't keep myself from chuckling over all the stuff there :D Next chapter will most likely be the end of the Tenrou arc, I hope y'all won't mind that too much. I loved adding this new character and I'm sure you've all figured that there will be similar for the other flames in the future as well, can't wait to create them!


	51. Chapter 51

Alright, follow-up's coming! Last chapter introduced a pretty nice concept. Someone was kind enough to give me some ideas or suggestions surrounding it, we'll see how it goes. Tenrou's probably gonna go down in this one, don't quote me on that though. I know what I wanna get done, when it needs to get done, that's about it... :P Again, I guess we'll see what we end up with.

* * *

'Hold on, what's that?' Ultear observed the body walking before her. She saw something dripping out of the scorch marks that were on Natsu's body. It seemed like some fire, it was purple.

'That's weird, I don't remember Zeref using fire. Better stay close and get to know more about this.' She planned. Natsu kept walking forward. Only subconsciously he knew where he was going. Everyone informed each other about the dark mages' infiltration of the island and decided to return to camp.

"Master!" The group of mages ran towards Makarov, much to his surprise.

"W-What are you doing here? Is it over? Has one of the teams won?" He asked in a confused state.

"N-No.. There were ... Dark mages." Gajeel caught his breath while trying to explain the situation.

"They're damn powerful and seem to be part of a dark guild named 'Grimoire Heart'" Freed added on top of that. The name echoed through Makarov's mind, his shocked expression worried the guild. Meanwhile Mirajane, Erza and Gildarts had returned as well.

"This guild is not to be taken lightly, we're speaking of one of the strongest dark guilds out there! I'm gonna have to call the S-class examss off, we're leaving the island!" The mages gasped, hearing the sudden decision by their master.

"Sorry, Makarov. I don't think they're having any of that." Gildarts looked around him, seeing the persistant looks on many faces.

"We've beaten a couple already, we can fight them!" Gray yelled out.

"We don't know much about the enemy but their average strength, and it is something we can overcome." Freed joined Gray.

"A man doesn't run like a coward, a man stays to fight!" Elfman shouted at the top of his lungs, making some people sweat drop at the 'manly' statement.

"As much as I hate to oppose you, master. I think they're right, we can face the enemy." No one expected Erza to join their side as well.

"Damn these brats, why do they need a master if they're gonna ignore him anyways?" Makarov silently asked himself.

"Fine then, have it your way! The new trial is to beat the dark guild that's opposing us!" Makarov declared, recieving cheers from around him.

"But you will have to fight by yourself, I won't aid you in battle." Makarov added with a gloomy expression.

"You got nothing to worry about." Bickslow reassured him.

"Does everybody now know of this?" Makarov wanted to make sure everyone was present and aware of this.

"Has anyone seen Natsu?" Mirajane was the first to notice his absence. They all looked around for the fire mage, without noticing any sight of him.

"God knows what the brat's been doing, I want him here now! Gajeel, Wendy, sniff him out! Mirajane, Bickslow, Freed, get a clear sight from above. Everyone else, get searching!" Makarov ordered around. If there was someone they couldn't afford to be caught off-guard, it was Natsu. The guild immediatly spread in groups of five. Some went alone, some went along with two others. Mirajane was worried sick while flying high above the treetops. Especially with all that had happened, who knew what condition he could be in right now? Gajeel was the first one to find a trace. He crouched, noticing some purple flames on the ground.

"Salamander..." He huffed when he sniffed the fire, he proceeded to follow the trail.

"We're getting close to someone, I can feel it." Violet warned them of the presence she noticed. They immediatly scanned the area, noticing a dim blue light in the distance.

"There!" Violet immediatly made Natsu aware as she sprinted towards the blue flame.

"Violet, it has been a long time. So you have deemed him worthy of your appearance? Does he seem that trustworthy to you?" The blue flame spoke with a slightly agitated voice.

"Now, now. Don't be so grumpy, Blue. In fact, Natsu's probably the guy we've been waiting on for so many years. If I trust anyone, it's him." Natsu was surprised by the amount of faith the spectral spirit had in him. He thought of how much terrible things these spirits could've gone through, and made it his goal to be the best host they could've wished for.

"Is that so? Well, anyways, I know why you're here. If you trust him so much, I'll help. We need to get rid of Grim's filth before it gets out of control." Blue grew to the shape of a mascular man. He could probably face Elfman in armwrestling, by the looks of it. He was bald and had a stern appearance.

"Grim?" Natsu asked.

"He's the spirit of the dark flames. He's the one I don't get along with too well." Violet explained to him, making her disliking of the spirit obvious in her expression.

"I really hope Violet's right about you, Natsu. From what I've seen, you can be a bit too reckless. But you definitely don't lack will power, I know that much." Natsu didn't know how he should take this from Blue, was this good or bad?

"Don't worry, it's nothing personal. Blue's always like that, all grumpy and stuff." A cheerful Violet woke him from his thoughts, Natsu threw his grin at her.

"Anyways, we better get moving. The rest is still out there, and we definitely need them." Blue stated as he stared in a direction before they all started moving again.

'And now there's some ice forming on his fingertips? This is really weird, and where is he going?' Ultear noticed the change in Natsu's appearance, it was only slight, but it was there. The bloody eyes still aimlessly stared forward, moving into a direction near the camp of Fairy Tail. Above them was Mirajane, looking around for her mate. When she looked down, she was delighted to see the pink hair. She immediatly descended, coming from the back.

"Na-" She almost screamed until she was grabbed by a strong pair of hands into the bushes.

"MMMMh.. Gajeel!" She struggled until she noticed who it was that held her. The iron dragon slayer released her when she calmed down.

"There's something off about Salamander. He's not himself, you can't let him know we're here yet... And try to avoid her." Gajeel whispered as he pointed towards a nearby bush, Mirajane noticed Ultear moving alongside of it. When she nodded, they silently crawled forward. She was still worried about Natsu, but she knew that if she let that get the better of her, it would only endanger the fire mage. The set amount of time had passed, and the group of mages was now reassembling in the camp they had set up.

"Any progress?" Gildarts asked them all, they shook their heads.

"Where're Gajeel and Mira at?" He noticed they weren't present.

"They might be on his tra-" Erza started, but was silenced by the sudden roar echoing throughout the sky.

"W-Was that..."

"A dragon." Wendy finished the whispers as she knew full well what the beasts sounded like.

'Him again...' Gildarts thought silently, he knew what dragon was coming and became extremely worried about the guild memebers.

"First a dark guild and now him again? I'm sorry, but I don't think we can take a dragon on while having to defend against a dark guild this powerful." Makarov sighed towards the guild members.

"But we've got Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel. Three dragon slayers are enough to take down a dragon fore sure!" Elfman argumented.

"Trust me on this one, this dragon is not one we want to mess with." Gildarts stepped forward.

"It nearly killed me once." This brought shock to many of the mages as they got to see the result of Gildarts' near death experience.

"I'm afraid Gildarts is right, some of you have seen it when Natsu became king of the fire dragons. We have to get out of here before it arrives, I'm not losing any of you!" Makarov ordered as he moved towards the beach. He wanted to prepare the boat.

"I feel his excitement annoying me already..." Blue stated.

"Huh?"

"He means Spark, the lightning flame." Violet explained their interaction.

"Oh, so they don't like each other?" Natsu asked her.

"Good old Sparky's a little ... overexcited ... about everything. It gets on more than just Blue's nerves." She nervously explained.

"Right." Natsu grinned at her, she had no idea why.

"What's wrong?" She asked him.

"Eh, if I'd tell you, it'd get repetitive." Natsu left her question unanswered.

"Aw c'mon, don't be like that!" She pouted, it looked pretty adorable.

"I feel like I should be the one thanking you for being so nice to me." Natsu smiled upwards, keeping up his pace. She looked down, Violet wasn't very good at taking so much praise.

"There's a time and place for everything..." Blue started, peeking both their curiosity.

"Just now now!" He yelled at them, both noticed the sound of laughter and looked over to his side.

"Oh man, Blue's still keeping everyone in check, I see. Yo, Natsu! Been with you for a while now, the name's Spark. Nice to finally meet ya in person!" The yellow flame jumped up in the form of a slender young man, similar to Natsu. Spark even had a similar grin.

"Even Violet's here, the most recent addition." He noticed her.

"Addition? Excuse me, I remember whooping your ass last time!" She retorted.

"Only because you're using those cheap ass tactics of yours, we can get a rematch any time." Spark growled at her.

"I'd love to see that, but I'm favoring Violet on that one." Natsu meddled. Violet smiled brightly at him, and left Spark slightly upset.

"W-But, Natsu. I've been with you much longer than her." He cried out.

"You're both agile, and you beat her when it comes to physical strength. But you and I both know what she's got going for her, and I don't think you can beat that. Heck, I couldn't. I'm glad I'm on her side." Violet was happy with the support she recieved from Natsu, she wanted to stick her tongue out to Spark if only it wouldn't make her seem so immature.

"Honestly, the three of you annoy me." Blue facepalmed.

"You're no fun, Blue." Spark countered.

"It isn't always about fun, we gotta get moving." He suggested, making them all nod and move in search of the final flame they'd need.

"Hold on, you see that?" Mirajane whispered to Gajeel. She was pointing at Natsu's arms, who were now sending out a jolt of electricity every once in a while.

"The hell's going on with him?" Gajeel muttered.

"Let's just stay on his trail." He told her. They proceeded to follow him, until eventually there were no more bushes and they watched him stare over the open sea. What they then saw astounded them, a giant black dragon closed in on them. Halting before Natsu in the sea. Mirajane and Gajeel recognized it from their trip to the land of the fire dragons. Acnologia was now standing before Natsu.

"So, we meet again. I had hoped to see if you've grown any stronger. I promise you that I'd go all out next time we'd meet." The black dragon spoke, until the noticed something off about the person standing before him.

"You seem different from before..." He muttered, until Natsu's body was replaced by black flames.

"Oh, I see. You've met him, then." Acnologia understood what happened the moment he saw those flames.

"Well, that should make for a fun fight." The black dragon immediatly charged at him. Natsu's speed was surprising to him as he headbutted the sand with a heavy impact.

"Yup, a fun fight it will be." He looked up to see Natsu stomp on his head, he then ran up to Acnologia's back.

"Apolocalyptic spine!" Spikes appeared out of the scales which nearly impaled Natsu, however he swiftly dodged all of them. He decided to take the battle into the air and flew up high. From a far away distance Makarov noticed the dragon engage in battle with what seemed to be Natsu. He immediatly let go of everything he was dong and ran over to the fight, followed by his guild.

"Looks like hell's breaking loose out there..." Spark commented on the outside situation.

"Yeah, we need to get this over with fast. Blaze shouldn't be too far, I can sense his arrogance" Blue agreed.

"Can't you ever sense something positive about someone?" A glare from the tall spirit quickly shit Natsu up.

"He's just toying with you, don't be such a pushover." Spark gently punched Natsu's shoulders.

"So anyways, Blaze is the crimson flame then?" Natsu asked them.

"Sure is, you should know. He's been with you all your life. Quite arrogant, he is. Proud in everything he does. Kind of like your dad, Igneel. You'll notice some resemblences, I'm sure." The lightning flame replied.

"Why is it that when you guys talk about me, 'Arrogance' is the first thing I hear?" They looked over to see a crimson red flame.

"Because that's your 'best' quality, or at least the most obvious one..." Spark replied.

"Aren't we talkative, sparky. I see you've all shown him yourselves, I guess I'll do the same then." Blaze took a very familiar form the Natsu. A tall man who seemed to be in his twenties now made his appearance. His hair was blazing down to his shoulders.

'He looks a lot like Igneel when he pretended to be human.' Natsu remembered his training by his foster parent in disguise.

"I suspected this form would be familiar to you, Igneel used it to approach you once before." Blaze noticed Natsu's expression of recognition.

"Now that we're all together, we better move to Igneel and get this going." Blue suggested.

"Right." Violet nodded.

"Gotcha." Spark spoke.

"I can't remember the last time we were all together... Let's do it." Blaze sounded nostalgic.

"Thanks, all of you." They all turned to face Natsu.

"Hey, thanks to you we get to live a not so miserable life. I'd like to maintain that, thank you very much." The crimson spirit told him.

"Yeah, you should get that in your head already. We're all grateful to you for not being a complete asshole like many of us have been with already." Spark added.

"C'mon now, we gotta get moving." Violet pulled Natsu's arm along with her as they ran for Igneel.

"Is that.. Natsu?" Makarov asked aloud as he arrived at the scenery. Mirajane and Gajeel jumped out of the bushes and joined the crowd.

"What the hell are those flames? Did Natsu just get some new ones, again?" Gray questioned.

"No, they don't feel like it.. They feel too dark for that." Gildarts replied. Above them Natsu was flying around with a giant dragon on his tail.

"I didn't think it was like you to run away from a fight, Dragneel." Acnologia yelled at him. Natsu came to a stop and kicked the black dragon's head down. After he lost his balance, Natsu grabbed the dragon's tail and swung it into a random direction. Acnologia was tossed away from the island, getting irritated by Natsu's attack pattern.

"Apocalyptic Warrior: Darkness of Protection!" Acnologia had shown this spell before, he gained much higher resistance as his scales became thicker and acted a lot more like armor. His tail became a spiked battleaxe and three small pairs of horns grew on his head.

"You've seen this one before, so how will you deal with it this time?" The dragon asked Natsu. The black demon charged and employed the same strategy as he had before, aim for the head. Before Natsu could make contact he was smashed down by the tail of the dragon, then caught by his talons and thrown up again. Acnologia then caught him in his mouth and attempted to eat him. As he closed his mouth, the black fire blasted it right back open. Acnologia now noticed from the red eyes that he was having a tough time. Charging again, they closed the distance in between each other. This time, Natsu's fiery black flames spread across Acnologia's body when they made contact. The dragon could feel pain arise at a fast rate. Eventually his armor was torn apart and his body was engulfed in the dark fire.

"Natsu might be winning now, but we gotta help him!" Mirajane yelled as she moved in, most members agreed as they charged ahead. Ultear noticed their movements from the bushes and decided the act, she had to keep them from who she presumed to be Zeref.

"Ice Make: Rosen Krone!" With that, heavy roses and spiked branches made from ice were summoned and charged at the group of Fairy Tail mages. Most managed to turn around in time and either dodge or block, but Makarov and Mirajane were launched into the sea.

"Master, Mira!"

Natsu escaped Acnologia's body and went in for an uppercut, but before this could happen...

"So you managed to gather them all, good." Igneel noticed their arrival.

"We've got no time to lose, let's try to get Rebuke going." Spark came down to business, which was unusual for him. With a nod of Igneel, they all sat down cross-legged in a circle. They were slowly releasing their magic energy and pooring it into the center, which was the flame that always lighted Igneel's face when Natsu came to visit and was now poisoned black. Slowly but surely the black was lighting up, turning from black into dark shades of Gray. This kept going until eventually the flame erupted in a bright gold.

While Natsu's black, fiery body charged in for another attack, a bright light suddenly erupted from his chest. A loud scream could be heard. Acnologia took this oppertunity to slam Natsu down to the island with his tail. The guild watched Natsu crash down before them. When they looked above them they saw the dragon charging up a massive amoung of energy. Their eyes widened as they saw the incoming roar. Mirajane and Makarov got to the surface just in time to see the entire island blasted into oblivion by Acnologia's roar.

* * *

Holy crap that was a long chappy. While writing this, I kind of got excited for a Natsu X Violet ship thingy. I don't know if you guys think I should keep it strictly NaMi, or would allow this as long as it wouldn't intercept with their original relationship, or get a harem going or something. Idk, let me know what you guys think because the idea sounds quite exciting to me :)


	52. Chapter 52

I'm back! Apologies for the late update, I had to solve the matter that has been occupying my mind during the past few days. Regarding the matter of changing the ships, I have not only looked at the many reviews from the previous chapter, but also at the reviews on other stories and profiles of many different authors. This allowed me to gather tons of opinions and hear lots of arguments regarding such matter. By this I have decided that I shall continue with this story as it was originally intended, strictly NaMi. However, that does not mean I'm any less excited about the idea of a Natsu x Violet ship. This lead me to the decision of making Violet the main character in the second story that I will produce, if you're interested in her, I suggest you check it out once I release the first chapter! The story will be slightly different as I will make an attempt and the first person POV, as well as start with a character that did not exist in the canon story. Naturally I will alert you all of the existance of the story once I finish this story in the final AN. I can't handle writing two stories at once, so I'm only going to start with it when this one's finished. By that time I believe to be back in school, which will leave me with a lot less time for writing. Thank you all for your amazing support with last chapter! I've gotten more than double the average reviews I get, which shows how much you guys are willing to help me out in times of need! Phew, that was a long message.

* * *

"Huh?" Natsu looked around him after the bright light had faded, noticing he was still surrounded by the black flames.

"Why didn't it work?!" Blaze immediatly looked at Igneel, who sighed.

"That's why." The dragon pointed at a visual of the outside world they all recieved.

"This may take a while." Natsu commented.

There was too much to process at the time for the two mages that drifted just above the water surface. They had just whitnessed a gigantic black dragon vaporize an entire island along with their friends.

"N-Natsu..." Mirajane whispered, Makarov grabbed her and grew to a size that allowed him to walk through the sea.

"WAIT, WHAT ABOUT THEM?!" Mirajane yelled as she tried to break free from Makarov's grip. She was nearly crushed when she faced his crying face.

"Listen to me, Mira. We've got to get back to the guild and decide on the best course of action, not slumber around here in the hope of finding our allies. You saw what happened to them, there's no chance." With that, he looked away and set off. Mirajane fell asleep while crying on his shoulder. Makarov had to keep himself from crumbling down. He had just seen many of his children die, and he was too weak to prevent it. Now was definitely not the time to break down. Now was the time he had to stay strong and guide his guild through the coming tough times. Exhaustion was getting to him after miles of crossing the huge collection of water. He had managed to get them both to the port of Magnolia. Many were surprised to see the giant titan walk from the horizon. The first thing he did was get to the guild. Upon entering the building with Mirajane by his side, the guild could read from their faces something was wrong.

"Master? Mirajane? What happened, why are you here by yourselves?" Was the immediate question that was thrown at them. After noticing the terrible condition they were in, the guild allowed them to rest first. After about an hour of sleep, it didn't seem like it did the two of them too well. Nightmares haunted them both. Mirajane looked down at her plate that was given to her and seemed to be in no condition to speak a word. They looked at Makarov, hoping to get information about this whole situation.

"Tenroujima..." They all listened carefully when they heard Makarov speak up.

"Was destroyed." It took a while for the guild to process what he just told them.

"By what?" When he calmed down, Wakabe asked the old man.

"Acnologia, a giant black dragon." The response made multiple mages shudder.

"And, the rest?" Macao turned to him from his table.

"Joined the island." You could sense the gloomy atmosphere that followed. Makarov proceeded to tell them exactly what happened at Tenroujima, and how the two of them survived.

"You can't be right, they can't be dead. Natsu's with them, they can't be dead!" Some of them refused to accept the situation, but after looking for the island for a couple long weeks, it dawned to them that it really was the hard reality they had to face. The guild wasn't as cheerful as it used to be, many took a break to process the way things have gone. Mirajane found herself working in a small café. It was how she would make money while staying away from the guild for a little while. She was cleaning a table, when she turned around she was met by a mysterious figure. The silver-haired mage looked up and was met by the hooded face of Laxus. She was filled with rage, remembering the last time she saw him he attempted to hurt Natsu and all of the other ones.

"I came to check up on all of you, so how's the guild doing?" He asked as if nothing was wrong, not that he could know. But seeing the sheepish smile of the lightning mage, she knew he had changed his mind and wasn't the same cocky man she knew from before. After realizing he asked about the guild, she nearly collapsed, being reminded of the past events.

"Woah, Mira! What's wrong?" He crouched to help her up and asked her worringly.

"A lot of stuff has happened..." Her shaky voice answered. After she was doen with her shift, Mirajane invited Laxus over to Natsu's house, where she still lived. She explained everything that happened at Tenroujima, much to the lightning mage's surprise.

"Wait, let me get this straight. You're saying this giant black dragon that Natsu's fought before completely obliterated the entire island with everyone on it?" She nodded while crying.

"I-I'm sorry." He downed his head. He came back, thinking of just simply visiting Magnolia again and checking up on the guild. He had no idea such a thing would even be possible, suffering defeat on such a scale with Natsu and other strong members around.

"What for?" She asked with a deep voice, not raising her head.

"For doing all of the things I have done in the past, for not being of use to the guild when I could've done something."

"You can still help them, or us. You can still make a difference. Currently, everyone is a wreck. We can all use someone who's still standing to help us out and lift our tasks." Mirajane proposed.

"I can't do that if I'm not a member of the guild." Laxus countered.

"Then don't sit on your butt and become one already!" The take over mage yelled at him, making him scoffle back in his seat.

"Sorry. I'm gonna try to help you all as much as I can, though I don't think that's a lot." With that, he stood up.

"Make sure to tell master you've talked to me already." He froze before the door to hear what she had to say. Laxus nodded before he actually left the house. After tinkering on her own for a minute, Mirajane sighed and left herself.

'They'll probably all hate me.' Laxus thought as he stood before the doors of the guild hall. Usually he'd still be slightly cocky but during times like this he couldn't act like that. The guild was surprised to see him when he entered the guild hall. He tried to ignore the glares he was recieving and immediatly went up to Makarov's office.

"Enter." Makarov replied to Laxus' knock.

"I thought I banned you from the guild." The old man looked away the moment he recognized his grandson.

"I've spoken to Mirajane, I know what happened. I want to help the guild as much as I can." Laxus clenched his fists and sounded determined.

"Help us? Help us?! How can be sure that you won't pull something like that off again?" Makarov turned to look him in the eyes.

"It's fine, master. He won't do it, I promise you that." Mirajane suddenly walked in the room.

"Mira, you're covering for him now?" The guild master was very surprised to see her cover up for him.

"Yeah, I know his intentions are right. I know a determined look when I see one." Makarov understood where that came from, Natsu had a tendency of showing that exact look.

"Very well." He sighed. Laxus was relieved to hear that sigh, as he knew it meant his grandfather gave in.

"Laxus, you're once again part of Fairy Tail. Try to make it a bit easier for everyone around here." With that, Makarov dismissed the two of them. The first couple of weeks Laxus just did the jobs in secret, without anyone knowing except for Mirajane and Makarov. Later on it was announced that Laxus was part of the guild again. In contrast to what was expected, most of them accepted it rather quickly. It seems that they really were in need of a pillar. Life went on and the guild moved on as well. It become a bit cheerfuller as time progressed until eventually the painful memories were gone and replaced by memories of the good times they all shared. This went on until that faithful day seven years later...

Mirajane was behind the bar as usual, with Makarov next to her. She looked a lot more mature. Her hair was a bit longer, the ponytail she had now moved down her face underneath her right eye. The dress she usually wore was a black one with a white collar, it contrasted her hair nicely. The eyes of most mages who noticed widened at the sight of a child-like figure entering the guild hall. The girl had very long hair that nearly reached the ground, she was bare-footed and wore a pink robe. She made a motion that told them to follow her, and so did most of them. As soon as she left, they charged after her. The ones that didn't know what just happened just went along with the rest. They noticed the girl leaving for the docks. When they arrived, she stepped over the water. Makarov immediatly told them to board the boat. They followed the girl over sea, it took a while before she finally appeared to stand still. They awaited her next move, which seemed to be rather spectacular. The girl raised her arms and let her magic flow around her. The mages could feel an amazing amount of power circle her. The result was a sudden movement of something deep under the sea.

"Hm?" A much older Natsu hummed to the change in his surroundings. He noticed the black flames subside and the flame before him glow brighter.

"So it's finally time." Igneel spoke.

"Heh, thought it'd never end." Spark commented.

"Does this mean I'm leaving you guys?" Natsu asked his surrounding party.

"For now, yeah. But you can always talk to us whenever you feel like it." Violet smiled at him. The golden flame started to erupt and engulf Natsu.

"And I do mean any time." She followed up as she turned around to walk away from him.

"Make sure to give 'em hell out there for leaving you for so long." Blaze grinned at him as he also left in the direction Violet went.

"Heck yeah, I wanna see the sparks fly!" Spark added as he joined his partners.

"I'll make your sparks fly if you don't watch it!" Blue threatened, chasing after the yellow pest with a slow pace. Natsu was blinded by the light, when he opened his eyes again, he was staring into a blue sky. When he sat up, he felt extremely weak. He examined his body, noticing his nails were extremely long, as well as his hair. He looked like he hadn't eaten for years.

"I guess that's what you get for taking care of your body for years, how am I even alive?" He chuckled at the thought of that causing his death.

"NATSUUU!" His eyes widened as they stared at the sand in front of him. That voice was a voice he had missed for a long long time.

* * *

I hate descriptions, both reading and writing, so I usually leave them out. However this case kinda called for it, I believe. I hope I didn't mess up too much in this chapter, I have no idea what kind of stuff I do wrong when I do but then I don't know what I do right when I do so idk. Let's just hope for the best! I'm gonna leave now, yep.


	53. Chapter 53

Seems like last chapter might have spread some confusion amongst some of you. Do not worry, this chapter I will make an attempt at clearing everything up to the best of my abilities. Well... At least about Natsu's situation. I hope to make a quick transition into the GMG (I haven't been watching the anime recently so I don't know how it ends yet, and I do not read the manga either). Alright, here goes my attempt.

* * *

"Mira..." The fire mage whispered, feeling his body being crushed by the soft skin of a silver-haired woman.

"We'll go look for the others." Macao informed both of them.

"We thought you all died." Mirajane cried over him.

"Good thing we didn't, was close though." Natsu laughed quietly.

"It's been so long, too long since I held you." Natsu pulled her down to the soft sand when he heard that.

"What's happened to you, I mean look at you. By the looks of it, you might as well be dead! How are you still breathing?" She scanned his body.

"I asked myself the same question just now. And ehm... I'm not really sure myself what happened. But I know someone else can probably answer that question." He chuckled.

"What I know is that I was stuck for a long time inside of this place." Natsu pointed at his own head, recieving a questioning look from the woman before him.

"I'll tell you all about it later." He grinned.

"Fine, let's catch up on lost time." She seductively whispered before she jumped him.

"Woah, can't we keep the lovey-dovey stuff for later?" A lightning mage noticed their intimate moment.

"Laxus?!" Natsu immediatly jumped up in surprise.

"Laxus has rejoined the guild, he's helped us out quite a bit actually." Mirajane exlained Laxus' presence.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I guess we owe you." He brought his hand to his head, looking down.

"You have the right to be jumpy. I really have caused a lot of trouble and I was a power-lusting beast, when I heard that the guild was going through a tough time I wanted to try and make up for what I did to them. I couldn't believe Mirajane when she told me you'd been defeated, after all, you're stronger than me." Natsu detected the slight hint to arrogance in that last part.

"But I've changed, a lot." He finished.

"Yeah, I can tell." The fire mage commented.

"Anyways, we've found a lot of the others already. They weren't far, but they all seem a lot younger than us. It's like they haven't aged." Laxus' words shocked them both.

"They haven't ... aged? Then why does Natsu look like he could fall apart any moment?" Mirajane immediatly asked concerned.

"I don't know, maybe they do." Laxus replied, raising his shoulders.

"No, we don't." They heard the answer come sooner than they expected. Erza, followed by the remaining participants of the S-class trials and S-class mages, neared them.

"Woah, what've you been doing? You look like you've just sat in once place for years and not moved an inch!" Gray pointed at Natsu.

"That's exactly what you've all been doing." Mavis Vemillion, first guild master of Fairy Tail, joined the conversation. They all slowly turned their heads to meet the spirit and it's childish appearance.

"... EEEEH!" It took a moment to sink, but as soon as they realized who it was and what she just said they were all extremely flustered.

"Allow me to explain what happened. Right as Acnologia's attack was about to land, seven years ago, I managed to gather enough magic energy for Fairy Sphere. This is the third spell belonging to Fairy Tail in existance and is purely defensive. It made everything inside the sphere static, unchangable. You were incapable of being harmed, or grow up, for that matter. However, I don't know why it is that Natsu appears like he does now. I was incapable of dispelling the sphere before now." She explained them all.

"So, we missed out on seven years?" Erza asked, Mavis nodded.

"Wait a minute, Natsu's body was still those black flames, right?" Gray asked around, recieving a nod from Natsu and a couple fellow guild mates.

"You're right, that might explain why." Erza stated, recieving some questioning looks as well.

"Until now, we've thought of your flaming bodies similar to take overs. However, now I believe they are more like my ex-quip magic. You don't fuse your body with the flames or anything of the sort, instead, you replace your body with the flaming one and keep your own body in a seperate space. At least, that's what I believe. That would explain why your body did age, because it wasn't in the sphere." Erza shared her hypothesis.

"That would make sense. So, Natsu, what exactly did happen to you during these years and right before the Sphere acitvated?" Makarov turned towards the fire mage once more.

"Well... You all remember those black flames, they weren't mine." This immediatly aroused some suspision.

"When Mirajane and I were looking around during the second trial, we found a dark mage. He felt really powerful and had an abundance of dark magic. He didn't fight us, all he did was launch one attack. I caught the blow and somehow his magic ... infected mine. His dark energy seemed to conflict with my flames, and I couldn't use them anymore. All I could use was that dark fire. Then, it came to possess me or something. I was stuck in my own mind while something or someone had control over my body. I think when I was about to break free and regain control was when Fairy Sphere activated. That explains why it seemed to have no effect, because my body couldn't be affected by anything at the time." Natsu explained.

"What seemed to have no effect?" Makarov asked once more.

"Oh, I was able to purge it with the help of my flames." He answered shortly.

"Of your flames? You just mean your magic?" Gray spoke up.

"No, I mean my actual flames. Wait." Slowly, Natsu stood up. He seemed to be tired, but was able to collect a small amount of flames in his hand.

'Are you guys ok with this?' He soon recieved an affirmative response of his friends. The fire mage spread tiny embers of his purple, blue, red and yellow flame on the ground. To the crowds' surprise, these seemed to grow into the shape of bodies similar to those of a human.

"These are the spirits that control those flames, they have accompanied me during those seven years." Natsu pointed at each and everyone of them.

"The name's Blaze."

"Blue."

"Spark, and don't you forget it!"

"I'm Violet, pleased to meet you!" They all introduced themselves in their own way.

"So, these are ... your flames?" Elfman pointed forwards, in shock.

"Yeah, pretty cool right?" Natsu seemed kind of braggy about them, and he had the right to.

"These are the spirits behind my power, they are my strength." Hearing him say that brought a smile to their faces.

"Natsu, stop doing that, you're embarassing us!" Violet yelled quietly and quickly waved at him, trying to silence him. Natsu could only laugh at her shyness.

'C'mon, Violet. I don't see the problem, you're just scared you won't meet up to the expectations they now have of you." Spark grinned at her.

"If those expectations are anything like your face they'll meet the ground soon enough." Their foreheads met each other as Violet cursed at Spark. The guild seemed to enjoy this act, it reminded them of Gray and Natsu as they previously were.

"They seem quite lively, not what I'd expect." Makarov smiled.

"Of course, they're people, just like us." The last part made the two rivaling flames look over at him. Surprised as everyone was, they hugged him closely while sobbing.

"I think we might be interrupting a family moment." Lisanna commented.

"Don't bother, it's just those two being oversensitive again." Blue glared down at them, making many shiver.

'He's just like Erza' Was the thought crossing many minds.

"Anyways, I think it's about time to get off this island." Blaze interrupted.

"You're right, we've tried to keep the guild standing but we were a lot weaker. We're not bottom-tier but we could be doing a hell of a lot better." Mirajane informed them of the current state of the guild.

"Then we'll do our best to get Fairy Tail back to the top." Natsu raised his hand to form the Fiary Tail symbol. Copying his motion, many cheered. Once they arrived back at the guild, the first thing that happen was Natsu raiding the food supplies. He looked a lot better ater devouring a total amount of 16 fish, 2 pigs and 12 loafs of bread. Naturally, there was a huge party to celebrate their return to Fairy Tail. Near the end, Mirajane stood on stage and was about to announce something very important to them all.

"We all have the intention to raise Fiary Tail's reputation to what it used to be or better and the quickest way to do this would be ... the Grand magic games! It's an event held every year to determine the strongest guild. If we win, everyone will know Fairy Tail's back to the strength it used to have. We'll win a huge prize of 30 million jewels as well, so we can expand back to the size we used to have!" The take over mage announced. Makarov nearly fainted when he heard the large number.

"Winning this will not be easy, but I know we can do it, because we're Fairy Tail!" The mages cheered loudly, showing their enthousiasm for the upcoming event.

'The Grand magic games, sounds like fun' Natsu smirked.

* * *

Another REALLY chill chapter, a lot of talking but I hope that no one will be left with any questions now. I'm excited for the GMG, got a little plan for it regarding the teams. Guys, honestly, wtf is up with the statistics of this story? Most stories usually have more followers than favorites than reviews, and with me it's completely upside-down! When you sort on reviews looking at the stories with Natsu and Mirajane in them, I'M FREAKIN SECOND. I'm sitting there amongst stories with 300+ followers and stuff, aka 'the big boy's league' :P


	54. Chapter 54

May the gods rain great lightning spears down upon thee all! (favorite curse) Hey again, apologies for the delay, nothing special just me being lazy. Great, nobody needs to remember that I am, in fact, a lazy asshole and we'll just forget about that right now. Moving on, pappah chappah's here, yo! Gon' try to introduce the GMG as good as I can, I hope to delay the actual games to next episode though. We'll see how it works out, as we usually do.

* * *

It was late at night, Mirajane was changing into her nightgown. She was exhausted by all the cleaning she had done for Natsu's homecoming. She was delighted to know that she would finally be able to share that bed with the person she loved once more. After letting out a big sigh, she slowly pushed against the door. With an eery sound, the door shifted open. Mirajane peeked through the gaping opening to see Natsu... reading? When she looked closer, she noticed it was the GMG codex he was examining. When the light of the hall behind her reached him, Natsu took notice of her presence.

"Oh, hey Mira!" He cheerfully spoke, as usual. She smiled, how could she not after seeing the expression on his face?

"Never thought I'd see you read in bed, or anywhere at that." Mirajane poked him teasingly after carefully closing the distance between them.

"Thought it'd be best to know all about these games." He replied, surprising her with his simple and reasonable explenation.

"There's enough time, no need to rush these things. Though I'm surprised to see you take it so serious." She slowly loosened the book from his grip before carefully placing it on his bedside cabinet.

"I guess so, but I have something planned..." He sunk his head into his pillow with his hands behind it. Mirajane's interests were peaked, usually it was she who had the plans going and not someone else.

"...And I won't tell you." As if he could read her mind, Natsu turned his head towards her with a smile. He was immediatly amused by the pouting face he recieved.

"But Natsu... You know I don't like being kept in the dark!" She looked at him with those deep marine-blue eyes.

"I do, and it won't change a thing."

"Bu-" She wanted to argue, but was silenced by the sweet touch of Natsu's lips.

"Just trust me, okay? He whispered as they seperated. Mirajane was in enough bliss to nod and not care, she had missed that feeling for so long. Before she herself realized it, Mirajane lunged herself at him. Natsu's mouth was completely occupied by her and before he could do anything about it, he was in it himself.

"Natsu.." A female voice whispered. Natsu grunted, but was shaken awake soon enough.

"Violet?!" The flame spirit grinned at him.

"Wanna hang out?" She innocently asked.

"I guess I don't have a choice?" he raised his shoulders.

"Does that mean you don't want to?" She pouted, staring at him with a pair of puppy eyes.

"I never said anything of the sort!" He brought his fist to his chest while he raised his chin, Violet laughed at the gesture.

"Alright then, so what's this thing you're keeping from Mira?" It became immediatly obvious why she wanted to talk to him, privately at that.

"So this is what it's all about eh?" The fire mage sat cross-legged in a thinking position.

"But I'm your bestest of friends, right?" She looked down at him, pleading.

"Eeeeh-" He shook his hand, enjoying the helpless look in her eyes.

"Guys not included?" She hoped.

"I would go as far to say that, yes." Natsu agreed, Violet was definitely someone he felt extremely comfortable around. I mean, for fuck's sake she lives inside of him.

"So, will you tell me or not?" Violet crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping to get an answer.

"Fine then, but only you!" He assured before he motioned her to come closer. She recieved Natsu's plan in whispers.

"Wow, that'd be so cool!" She cheered.

"Hmh, it would be." Natsu nodded.

"So that's why you've been so into the whole thing, I didn't know you had it in you." She patted him on the head as if he was a child that had just gotten his lolly from the dentist. A loud grumble made her hand retreat.

"Nevertheless, it's pretty cute. I must say, you're making me jalous of her." She smiled at him, Natsu tinted slightly pink. Being praised that way isn't exactly the most casual of things.

"I'm sure that if only you were allowed to, you would have just as much guys around you as the Fairies during a Miss Fairy Contest." This seemed to surprise Violet as her eyes widened and she looked downwards.

"As in friends or more?" She asked seriously. Noticing the tone of voice she used, Natsu decided to reply in an honest manner.

"Both." ...Now, time froze for her shortly. She had long given up on the idea of having a partner and such, being bound and all. She had always wanted to just materialize in the real world and find a partner, someone she could rely on. That dream was shattered once she was bound to the fire dragon slayer of four generations before Natsu. After being tortured and exploited for power for that long, someone had finally shown her that she was still appreciated for who she was, as a person. It was that particular moment, that she became certain that Natsu truly did see her and the others as humans with their own personalities. Knowing that, she almost collapsed. She forced the dragon slayer into a hug as she creid out over his shoulder.

"Woah, Violet?!" He asked in shock.

"Thank you so much, Natsu, for believing in us." She grasped him tighter, Natsu had no idea how much this meant to her so he decided to leave her be. However after a while he thought enough time had passed.

"Ehm, Violet... This is getting kinda awkward." She realized what she had been doing and quickly let go of him.

"S-Sorry, spur of the moment thingy." He chuckled at her justification.

"It's fine, I just hope I won't have to keep convincing you of your own existance." She showed him a grin almost as cheerful as his own. They kept chatting for a while, until Violet informed him that it was time to get up. He looked at her with a confused look for a bit until he suddenly was awoken in his own bed.

"Seems like you slept well, you were really deep." he was greeted by the voice and smile of Mirajane, he's sure missed that in the morning.

"You could say that, I was forced into it." She stopped what she was doing to look over him for a bit, worried.

"Ah, no matter. It was just one of them that wanted to talk to me." He at the colorful embers on the tips of his fingers.

"So they can do even that now? I hope they won't get take you over completely, especially not while we're doing something like ... last night." Mirajane came really really close to whisper that to him. Natsu could feel her breath on his skin, it was mesmerizing.

"I'm just kidding of course. Anyways, let's go. We all gotta prepare for the GMG, especially those who've been doing nothing for seven years. " Natsu grunted as he got up, his mind was set only to food at that time. Luckily for him Mirajane was able to quickly prepare some breakfast for them. Upon their arrival, they noticed the lack of rowdiness at the guild.

"A lot of them have gone training until the GMG, we won't see them until just beforehand." Makarov explained when he had seen the pair enter.

"And I suggest you do the same." Both of them nodded.

"Some of them will still be sticking around, right?" Natsu asked the old man, who nodded.

"As will we." Mirajane announced.

"Yo, Natsu, we're countin' on ya!" Elfman patted him on his shoulder as he passed Natsu with a couple other mages who were just setting out. They were gonna have a day like any other at the guild, doing missions and covering the bar. However, the plan was to train hard during the days to follow. And so they did, the following weeks have been quite exhausting for the two. The day before everyone would return to Fairy Tail, Mirajane and Natsu sat in an open area of the forest close to their house. Cross-legged, they were facing each other. They were holding hands and channeling their magic. After a whole while of silence, Natsu slowly opened one eye.

"No peeking." Mirajane ordered, making Natsu quickly close his eye again. He was trying to concentrate, but all of that went down the train when he recieved the touch of Mira's soft lips on his nose. His eyes shot open and stared right into her own. He couldn't move, he didn't want to back off but he also didn't know if he should press up against her. When she nearly closed her eyes and peeked through her eyelids at him, she granted him permission to move. Mirajane quickly came to regret that decision as she was soon found unable to move herself from underneath the dragon slayer.

"That was a lot like your first lesson." Natsu brougth up the memory of a young Mirajane and Natsu sitting across each other in the same way they did just now, in the same spot.

"Yeah, it was." She managed to speak before her mouth got assaulted.

A couple weeks later the Fairy Tail mages had all returned. It was one more week until the actual GMG, so people had time to rest from their long training trip. However, Natsu still wanted a proper sparring match to test something out. He was found in the forest, where he always went for training, surrounded by Erza, Gray, Gajeel and Wendy. He had asked them all to come at him with full force. Mirajane was spectating, wondering what Natsu was up to. The fire mage stood firmly, and did not inted to move an inch.

"Here's how this will go. If you all can manage to move me, you win." Natsu explained.

'I'm counting on you guys...' He thought to himself.

"You serious? I mean, I know you're strong and all, but even you should not be overdoing it after a break like that Natsu." Gray countered, his opinion became irrelevant once Natsu showed him his death glare. Gajeel smirked, making the first move.

"Iron Dragon's Iron Pole!" He went with his default ranged attack. Without making a move, a flame copy of Natsu caught the pole and threw it in the ground, distorting Gajeel's sense of balance and making him drop to the ground. Gray came in next with his own ranged attack.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Multiple ice lances made their way to Natsu. Again, without moving, electricity jolted from him as a barrage of lightning bolts negated the ice lances.

Wendy attempted a roar from the back, which was blocked by a sudden ice wall that was created by the chill wind that appeared behind Natsu. Erza had enough of Natsu's defense and charged ahead, thinking he wouldn't do that well against melee attacks. When she was about to strike him, crimson flames engulfed him and blinded them all. The light was so bright, it probably could've been seen from all of Magnolia. When they all regained their sight, they were being held captive by a flame copy. Natsu stood still, seeming to have caught Erza's sword with his thumb and index finger alone. With a snap of his finger, all the copies faded away. They dropped to the ground.

"Yup, he's ready." Gray commented as he looked up at Natsu.

* * *

I tried to make it a LITTLE more exciting than the past ones but it was mostly still relaxed. Having thought about the pairing previously also made me realize I've been going low on the NaMi moments, so I decided to try and emphasize those a bit. Sorry if I might've given Violet a bit too much attention at the start, I just like her that much :P Anyways, I'm gettin' out!


	55. Chapter 55

Alright, today Natsu's little plan will be revealed. Many of you wanted them to gain second origin, and I'll just toss it in there for the Tenrou group 'cept Natsu but I can't really thoroughly go over it. Now, the idea I have for the GMG is something unique and soemthing really generic, I have only one thing planned out and it's gonna be pretty essential, but I got no details regarding the events or battles planned. Bear with me on this one, because I take it the GMG will be a hell of a ride!

P.S. To _secretaresecrets_, I didn't get to reply to your review hence I ... couldn't. But thanks for throwing your stuff out there like you did, I hope to talk to you in the future!

* * *

A few days before the games started, the Fairy Tail mages were gathered near the forest. They were just having sparring matches to further exhaust their magic in order for it to become more powerful. Natsu was taking a break on the sidelines, as he watched Mirajane and Erza goin' ham on one another! Their battle strength was so evenly matched that the fight as a glorious sight, however he was more concerned about Mirajane holding back. He knew she had way more to her than she was showing right now. He had been thinking for the past few days about his own magic. Thanks to Erza, he knew that the flaming bodies that he always used came closer to ex-quipping. But he remembered using Igneel's body, and he knew that came closer to Take Over for sure. However, it seemed a little bit different. Normal take overs always seemed to just make a humanoid appearance of the sould they sued, while he himself was a complete copy of Igneel.

"What if she has it in her too?" He wondered, as he had discovered, thanks to the Fairy Tail archive, that there was indeed a more advanced form of Take Over. He never knew it as such, but Natsu used Soul Fusion. It was, like Igneel explained, a technique that used the material of the user's body in combination with an existing soul to recreate the body of that very soul, leaving the user's mind to control it. He talked to Mirajane about it and was surprised to see she never knew about this magic. But she had agreed that his Igneel transformation came close to Take Over. So now he had asked her if maybe she herself could pull this off. She tinkered about it for a bit, and told him that maybe with his help she could do it, hence he had already done it with the same kind of soul. He agreed and now there were at that dady, soon to enter the GMG. He noticed something off about Gray and the others, he figured they'd be exhausted by now. He knew that they've been training hard, but none of that could make this much of a difference.

"Yo, Gray!" Natsu called out for him when he finished his battle.

"What up?" He asked as he closed in on the fire mage.

"Shouldn't you be done by now? How you still going? I know you all have been training hard but I can't see it having such a great effect on you in such a short time." Natsu wondered.

"Ah, well... When the group went to the beach, we kinda had an unfortunate accident with the blonde's spirits. You know, that girl over there." He pointed at Lucy,

"Right, yeah I remember her. So what happened?" He was intrigued by the unfamiliar events of these spirits.

"Well, to thank her or something, they brought us over to the spirit world. But it seems that after spending a day in the spirit world, a month had passed in the real world." Gray cautiously explained.

"Ouch, so how'd that end up for ya?" Natsu continued to ask.

"We came across Jellal's new guild, one he made with Ultear and Meredy. You know, Ultear was the woman on the island that got Mirajane and master out of the sphere. I don't know how she escaped, but she seems to have changed a lot in the past few years. She ended up giving us something called 'Second Origin'. It unlocked a second storage of magic energy in us or something like that." Natsu's ears caught the words, he then let out a big smile.

"Ah, so that's it huh? I got mine a while back from Igneel, was it just as painful?" Gray smiled down at him, before giving Natsu a big nod.

"Hell yeah, it did!" He sat down and chatted with Natsu a bit more, mainly about how Igneel pulled Natsu through during the two years he was away with Mirajane. Speaking of which, the woman just came wandering off in their direction.

"Hey there now, shouldn't you guys be training?" She bended over with a menacing face.

"Bu-" Gray started.

"C'mon Mira, we were just taking a small break." After the years, Natsu had gotten used to Mirajane's potential scariness. Erza herself wasn't even that much of a threat no more.

"Natsu, get over here!" Erza shouted at him, pointed down. Natsu spurted over with clattering teeth. Yeah ... I take that back, Erza still had a good grip on him.

"So what were you talking about?" Mirajane sat down next to the ice mage.

"Oh, he asked why we suddenly seemed to have a lot more magic stored in us. It's because we got Second Origin." Gray replied.

"Oh, just now huh? How was it, did it hurt?" Mirajane leaned towards him with a sadistic smile on her face, it scared him.

"You too?" He backed away from her, wanting to escape.

"Yup, me too."

A few days later it was time to leave for the games, Natsu had informed Makarov of their wish and he had given their approval. He was surprised to hear Natsu had confirmed it's possibility in the codex of the GMG, it meant that Natsu was very serious about this. He had something to prove, and he knew just how to do it. That day, Makarov was about to announce the team that would represent Fairy Tail.

"Brats! It's time, today the group I will assign to the GMG will prepare to leave for Crocus! Now, the ones I have chosen for this are: Erza Scarlet! Gray Fullbuster! Laxus Dreyar! Gajeel Redfox! Freed Justine!" Makarov announced the members of the team he had assembled.

"What about Natsu and Mira? It doesn't make a lot of sense to fight without them." Gray questioned.

"Are you doubting me, Fullbuster?" Makarov grew to speak with a menacing voice, silencing the ice mage. Later that day, the group could be found in the designated sleeping quarters.

"I really wonder why master didn't let Natsu and Mira join, they're so strong." Gray stared out a window.

"That still botherin' ya?" Gajeel turned to him from his chair.

"We'll have to do with what we got, we can do this without them." Laxus reassured his teammembers.

"We shall pulverize them!" Erza slammed her fist on the table.

"Calm down, Erza." Gray slowly motioned her to take it easy.

"Regardless of that, we were instructed to be in our quarters by midnight, it is almost that time." Freed joined in on the conversation.

"Yeah, it should be starting about now." Laxus agreed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, time for the beginning of the GRAAAAAAND MAGIC GAMES!" A pumpkin head formed in the sky high above the city.

"I am Mato, your host for the games! There are over a hundred participating teams in the games, so first of all we will have an elimination round! Prepare to enter the pandemonium, a labrynth designed to be a real challenge and only allow passage to those who earn it!" Mate announced.

"Only the first eight to make it at the end will be granted a spot in the games."

"Only eight?!" Gray yelled out the window.

"We better move." Laxus muttered. A magic path was laid before them, granting them access to the pandemonium.

"So what's this place li-" Gray started, however the change in his environment silenced him. The ground beneath them was .. shifting.

"The hell?!" Gajeel cursed.

"So that's how they're gonna play this..." Freed quietly spoke to himself.

About an hour later the first five guilds had already arrived at their destination, now there was about to arrive one more team.

"Congratulations on making it, you're number six! What guild do you represent?" Mato asked the participants.

"Fairy Tail."

"Huh? That guild has already entered."

"The ruled never said a guild wasn't allowed to enter multiple teams." Mirajane smiled down at him.

"Huh?" With a surprised look, he turned around and seemed to check up on something.

"You are correct, fine then, where is the rest of your team?" He turned around, seeming slightly irritated.

"There's only us." Natsu replied.

"Come again?" Mate was surprised once more.

"The rules only mention that a team can't consist of more than five members, there was no restriction to having a lower amount of members." Natsu grinned at him, he seemed to enjoy being the outsmarting one for a change. Usually Natsu was the one getting outsmarted.

'Are you serious right now?' The small man thought as he checked the book once more.

"Fine, you can enter." Mato allowed them passage.

"And here is the sixth team! Fairy Tail ... B?" A loud voice echoed throughout the stadium. With the appearance of Natsu and Mirajane, lots of confusion and whispers commenced. The people who were the most surprised however, were their own guid mates.

"WHAAAAT?!"

* * *

So, that's what I've had in my head for a long time. It just being Natsu and Mira. I think the idea just popped up when I was writing ... the freaking festival arc. Perhaps it's not what you were hoping for, if not, sorry but it's something I wanted to do. As for keeping the elimination round canon, I don't actually think of it as part of the games. Anyways, thanks for reading until now, gotta catch up on some stuff. See y'all in the next one, I'm gettin' the frick out!


	56. Chapter 56

Coming up with non-canon events for the GMG is gonna be real tough on me, but I'll give it my best shot! I hope it won't disappoint any of you, even as I write this I don't even know what to do yet. I'll have to spend quite some time thinking about it most likely, so I assume this chapter won't be on time and perhaps even a few more in the future. So yeah, expect some delay on the GMG chapters. Also, I myself have not been catching up to the anime, so I will just complete the GMG in the way I want to. The only thing I am aware of is the appearance of future Rogue, so I will be implementing that. Now that you all know how far my knowledge of the canon story goes, we can proceed with the actual chapter.

* * *

"Did you know Makarov was planning this?"

"How will we deal with this?

"I heard it was just that dragon slayer that planned this out."

"For now, we've got no choice but to leave them be. The elimination round has already passed and there are no replacements." The organizers of the GMG all nodded as they came to an agreement. Now in the stadium were no one but the commentators and the participants.

"We have decided that, because of their smaller team, Fairy Tail B is allowed to participate in the Grand Magic Games. Now, I will be your host for the entirety of the games, Chapati! As my co-commentator, I have Yajima with me, a previous member of the Magic Council!" Chapati's voice echoed throughout the stadium. Natsu smiled triumphantly after hearing that his entrance was approved.

"Now that the elimination rounds are over, the teams can go to their assigned sleeping quarters and get their rest for tomorrow. Each day of the games will start with an event, each team can choose one of their members to participate in this event. None of the participants can take place in an event twice. In the case of Fairy Tail B, we can of course not apply that rule. Instead we take the choice away from them and they will be forced to circulate, so that tomorrow Natsu Dragneel will take place in the event, followed by Mirajane Strauss the next day. After the event there will be a battle stage. Who faces who during this stage will be chosen by the sponsors of the Grand Magic Games, but even the public will get to vote on their prefences. Now that we have explained that, we will see all of you tomorrow at the first day of the Games!" With that, Chapati's explenation to the mages finished. The first thing Natsu got to do upon entering the inn that Fairy Tail could sleep in was dodge a fist from Gray.

"What the hell, Natsu?!" The dragon slayer smiled at the flustered ice mage.

"What's wrong?" He asked as if he didn't know.

"What's wrong?! Are you trying to just split us up so we'll we weaker for the games or something?" Gray yelled at him.

"Hold on, you're saying you don't think we can win like this?" Natsu retalliated with suspicion.

"That's not it, but we gotta be as strong as we can for this!" The whide hand motions Gray performed made Natsu certain that his old rival had doubts. He calmly walked passed Gray while patting his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. We'll win this, I promise you that." With that, Mirajane followed him upstairs.

"Can you believe him?" Gray turned to the rest of the guild while pointing upstairs, they all raised their shoulders.

"So Natsu..." Blaze suspiciously started, Natsu already knew something was up.

"What is it?" He glared over at him.

"We know you could just whipe these guys off the map as if they were specks of dust, so why don't we make it a challenge?" Spark answered.

"What? Why?" He immediatly replied.

"Because... fun." Violet joined in.

"And what do you propose?" He was a bit more tolerant towards the idea after hearing 'Fun'.

"You'll get to pick which one of us you get to use during the events, you'll only get one use though. And we'll limit your power too." Blaze explained.

"I'm not taking part in this, just so you know!" Blue called out from the other side of the fire.

"Didn't count on it." Blaze waved him off.

"So? Who will you use tomorrow?" Spark scoffled towards him.

"Ehm, well I have no idea what to expect. You're all powerful and all, but I think I'd be safer with Violet." They both nodded.

"You better not go too easy on him, like you did with me last time." Spark spat her way.

"You got utterly defeated, sparkhead!" She countered.

"He's right though, you have a tendency of doing that to him..." Blaze backed the yellow spirit up.

"Fine... Natsu, you'll only get me tomorrow. You better show sir Sparkalot and captain crimsonite over there that you can do just fine without them!" Natsu fell to his back from laughter at this minor conflict.

"Fine, it's settled." He straightened while attempting to regain his composure.

"Welcome to the first day of the GRAAAAND MAGIC GAMES!" Chapati announced the start of the games. He gave the crowd the same explenation he gave the mages the day beforehand.

"Is that Natsu Dragneel? He disappeared seven years ago with a few other members of Fairy Tail, right?"

"Those guys shouldn't be alive, I heard they faced a dragon that literally vaporized the island they were on!" Natsu understood a few whispers of the crowd the moment he entered the arena. Then, Chapati had finished his explenation.

"Sabertooth was last year's victor, we'll see if they claim the throne again or if someone else manages to take it away from them! With that being said, let's start today's event! For the first one, the participants will enter an underground maze. The walls, doors and even rooms in this maze will shift from time to time. The goal is to collect as much valuables as possible, this can be anything. However, there is one item that has the appearance of something valuable, but is in fact nothing more than a friendly package of minus points. Defeating an enemy mage during this event will grant you a temporary score multiplier for all the objects you pick up. Any kind of magic is allowed during this event, we will now transport the participants of this event into the maze." Gray, Natsu, Beth, Jäger, Nulpudding, Rufus, Eve and Yuka were brought to said maze. Natsu checked his surroundings, realizing they all had a seperate starting point.

"Something valuable... Let's start looking, I guess." He snapped his fingers and a combustion replaced his body with a purple flaming one. Natsu made a single copy of himself, and looked surprised at it.

'Seriously, only one?' He thought to Violet.

'Don't complain now, just roll with what you got!' She cheered him on. He sighed.

'I guess we'll split the work then..' With that, he ran a couple meters before freezing again.

'Not even the speed?' He asked her.

'Jeez, I didn't know you could be such a little bitch.' She hissed, making him drop the subject.

"It seems Natsu is splitting the work with a copy of himself while the rest immediatly rushed to look for the objects." Chapati informed the crowd of the on-going scene.

"That boy will surprise you, I'm sure. He is Fairy Tail's strongest if I'm not mistaken, and that's saying something." Yajima added.

"The first shift commences!" A wall closed a passage off for Gray, making him growl and turn another way. Natsu, who had just found a shiny, was sealed in the room.

"Memorized." Rufus held his index finger and his middle finger to his head while he spoke that, looking at the closed off hallway before him.

"It seems that Natsu, or his copy, has been trapped! He'll have to wait for the next shift before he can move forward again! And it looks like Jäger will claim the first " Chapati's voice echoed throughout the stadium.

"Look at that, the first shiny's mine." Jäger grinned as he moved closer to the golden trinket. Suddenly Natsu formed from the small purple embers in the air and rushed towards the trinket.

"And Natsu steals it right before his opponent! Can he secure it or can Jäger retrieve the trinket from Natsu's hands?" Chapati stood up to the unexpected scene.

"Sup." Natsu turned and greeted Jäger, who was getting pretty angry.

"So, the leftovers decided to join the party." He mocked.

"Leftovers? I think you should be the one taking care of not getting left behind." Natsu grinned as he dashed out of the room, the next shift prevented Jäger of chasing after him.

"Damn it!" He slammed his fist against the wall.

"It appears Natsu escaped with a bit of luck on the shift timing. Let's hope Jäger can make up for this loss."

'I don't think he'll get a chance to.' Mirajane giggled to herself.

'That went pretty smooth, I got out with that last shift. We got one down, all the others left to go.' Violet echoed through his mind.

"You got that right." Natsu laughed aloud.

"It seems the first clash is between Gray and Rufus!"

"You're pretty annoying, you know that?" Gray had just recieved a powerful counterblow that his Ice Shield couldn't block.

"I've memorized much stronger ice than your own." Rufus cockily spoke.

"Memorized, eh? Real cute, I guess. Can't memorize it if you can't see it coming though." A strap of ice latched onto Rufus' leg before he was completely encased in ice.

"And I've also memorized the fire to melt this ice. Memory Make: Karma of the burning land." The ground beneath him started to glow red and heat up. Lava erupted towards Gray while melting the ice.

"Kidding me, I've felt way hotter than this." Gray muttered after taking the shower.

"I wonder who he's talking about." Mirajane innocently added, recieving a skeptic glare from the guild.

"Hotter, I'd like to memorize that."

"Oh, he's around here somewhere alright." Gray noticed his presence, he knew Natsu was around.

"Can't hide myself for long around you, can I?" Natsu appeared, leaning against Rufus.

"It seems that even I can be surprised." Rufus managed to keep his first reaction to himself.

"So, I'm guessing you just get either another multiplier stacked on top or a double duration if you beat two guys at once?" Natsu smiled at the two.

"Not now, I wanna beat this bastard." Gray huffed.

"Fine then, I'll let you off this time. But next time, we're fighting." Gray nodded before watching Natsu run off once again.

"I don't think you should've turned your friend down like that." The ice mage glared at his opponent.

"So you can 'memorize' it? No, thanks." He replied before charging at him with ice blades.

'I thought you had somethign you wanted to prove to everyone around here?' Violet asked him.

'Yes, and so does he.' He simply answered.

"I can't believe it, Gray defeated Rufus by a hitch!" Was announced after a few minutes.

"That certainly was a close battle, the only thing carrying the boy through this fight was his strong will. So now Gray recieved a 2X multiplier for any valuable he finds in the next two minutes." Yajima commented.

Natsu walked towards a shrine, holding a valuable amulet of some sort. He was met by the swinging mace of Nulpudding.

"Another clash between Natsu and Nulpudding! The kobold has been able to defend himself well so far, can he beat the dangerous fire mage?"

"Ouch, you sure pack a punch." Natsu sat up.

"Thanks..." The purple man replied before bashing him back into the ground. Natsu was getting enough of this and charged his opponent. Natsu was mostly evading the powerful blows of Nulpudding while the other was just blocking Natsu's blows. Eventually Natsu managed to spin around one of his swings and deliver a powerful kick that sent his head straight downwards.

"And here is the counterattack! Can Nulpudding pull through this?" The answer was given when Natsu's back was filled with venous spikes shot from the mace arm of Nulpudding. Natsu's eyes filled with surprise and shock while he fell down.

"What a comeback! A sneak attack like that certainly wasn't something Natsu expected."

'Alright, guess I should end it. Thanks for taking that one for me, Violet.' Natsu rushed out of the corner of the ceiling.

"Hehe, they told me you were a lot stronger than this, they must've be-" He mouth was silenced by meeting the ground after recieving a heavy punch to the back of the head.

"You're a pain, you know that?" The fire mage calmly walked past him towards the shrine. Nulpudding fire another salvo of venomous spikes. Natsu turned around quickly and swung his hand before him, leaving a trail of fire that acted as a shield to catch the spikes. The kobold rushed through these to attempt a heavy overhead swing. Natsu leaned backwards to the right before kicking Nulpudding straight to the ceiling, followed by a heavy roar.

"You plan on getting up again?" He crouched before the body that just fell to the ground.

"And with that, Natsu earns his temporary Double Value for a few minutes!"

"I'll take this, thank you." Natsu took the amulet. He stared deeply at it for a while, the Sapphire gem reminded him of Mirajane's eyes.

"Alright, the time limit has passed! It's time to look at the scoreboard. We have a shared last place by Rufus and Nulpudding, surprising to see Sabertooth get such a bad start. Above them we have Mermaid Heel's Beth, she was able to avoid any conflict which is pretty impressive. Then we have Yuka from Lamia Scale who ended up with a victory and one item. Fourth place is taken by Eve from Blue Pegasus. Despite his awful start, Jäger managed to climb his way to third place. Second place is taken by Natsu, he had an amazing start which definitely made him take the lead quite quickly but he failed to stumble across anyone else during his exploration. Catching the minus points also didn't do him much good. In first place we have Gray, who seemed to be very fortunate by stumbling upon a lot of gems. That's it for today's event, we hope you all had fun!" Chapati finished the announcement and walked off for a lunch break.

"You had to catch the fluke, didn't you?" Mirajane awaited Natsu's return with her hands to her waist and her foot tapping the ground.

"I can't help it, I had to take it. It had the color of your eyes, I couldn't just leave it there!" Natsu retorted.

"... Damn it, you gotta stop doing that! I can't stay mad at you this way!" She leapt into his arms.

"Isn't that the point?" He smiled at her.

* * *

Alright, incredibly sorry for the time it took on this one. I finally managed to come up with something as simple as a treasure hunt yesterday, but I was just too tired to finish this all up. I hope it was ok for you guys, I'll leave a scoreboard at the bottom of this for the entirety of the GMG. So with that, I'm taking my leave!

Fairy Tail A - 8

Fairy Tail B - 7

Quatro Cerberus - 6

Blue Pegasus - 5

Lamia Scale - 4

Mermaid Heel - 3

Sabertooth - 1

Raven Tail - 1


	57. Chapter 57

I've got literally no clue how to handle the battle sequence, I know I don't wanna show all of them. Obviously Fairy Tail's are gonna be in here but otherwise I might just skip to the end score. And ofc I'm not gonna leave Sabertooth at the bottom, they still gotta be those cocky bastards they were in the anime. Anways, I hope to get this done as fast as I uh ... well ... should. It doesn't help that some family just got here. Sister strolls in the door with another sister and a little bro. The big sis came back from JAPAN! after a year. Got me a shirt from Shingeki No Kyojin and some accessories of anime women like Marie from Nisekoi. Well yeah, they're probably gonna delay all this some as well. They enter and I'm looking at them like 'Kidding me?' with a raised eyebrow, thinking of the story. At least now that they're here my parents are working on much better food! Welp, that about sums it up, I guess. Let's stop delaying the actual chapter, shall we. Btw, 'Dragon's Heart' just rounded itself up. To all those who haven't read that story by Annabelle Blade, wtf are you wasting your time here on my story for? I've been getting a nice theory of my story being unique, I guess not having a single clue wtf you're writing about does that for ya :P Alright, much ramble, should stop.

* * *

"We are back for the battle sequence of the first day of the Grand Magic Games!" Loud cheering followed the announcement.

"The rules are simple, whoever wins gains 10 points for his team, the loser gains nothing. Upon a tie, both teams are granted 5 points. There will be a 10 minutes timer on each battle. Now, the first combatants are... From Fairy Tail A, Erza Scarlet. Against.. Oh, this is gonna be interesting. Fairy Tail B's Mirajane Strauss! Fairy Tail's Demon and Titania, can they restore their image to what it used to be?" The question brought some suspense amongst the crowd, hearing the titles bestowed upon the mages entering the battlefield would cast silence upon many.

"I suppose this is the true disadvantage of having two teams participating." Yajima commented.

"There's no holding back this time." Erza spoke whilst summoning two swords once the two mages had closed enough distance.

"I suppose there's not." Mirajane smirked before turning into her classic satan soul.

"I believe they'll start with minimum power, hopefully their strength will pick up as the fight continues so we can see these women's true potential." Chapati had high hopes for an exciting match.

"Give it your all!" Mato hovered up from in between them.

"3!" He announced.

"2!" The crowd followed.

"1!" They all cheered.

"Begin!"

With the countdown out of the way, the mages stared each other down for another few seconds before Erza ex-quipped into her flight armor and rushed towards Mirajane with incredible speed.

"That speed has always been such a pain." Mirajane complained before casting Evil Spark at the ground. The electirc charge surged through the ground around her. Just before Erza could stop, she was struck by the amazing voltage. The balst produced some smoke, covering them both from view. Mirajane dodged a quick lightning strike from Erza's lightning empress armor.

"Ara ara, you're quick on everything, aren't you? I wonder how quick you could undress." Mirajane licked her lips.

"Erza better watch it, Mirajane's really getting into this now." Natsu laughed. The rest just stared him down with confusion. Mirajane let out a soft smile.

"You were holding back a lot more than I thought, you have earned my praise." Erza stood up using her lance while smiling.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to hurt something as precious as this." Mirajane had gotten closer and was now gently stroking her cheek.

"Ehm, Natsu. Don't you .. uhm. Just ... what?" Alzack was very flustered.

"Don't worry, she's just toying with her." He shook it off.

"Toying.. with Erza?" Natsu nodded with a grin.

"Alright Mira, playtime's over." Erza reappeared in her purgatory armor. A large swing from the mace threw Mirajane into the wall close to them.

"Heh, I was wondering what kind of punch that thing packed." The take over mage rose from the dust.

"I take it your question is answered?" Erza smiled while readying her mace.

"Not exactly... Give me more." Mirajane brought her hands to her cheeks and struck an innocent pose. Erza glared at her before leaping ahead. The giant weapon was barely dodged, Mirajane quickly filled the narrow window with a counterattack. A quick back kick launched Erza up. Mirajane chased the armor mage in mid-air, Erza responded with her Heaven's Weel armor. The many swords made sure Mirajane couldn't come close.

"Playing Hard to get, are we? C'mon Erza, no need to be so stingy about it." Mirajane slapped a sword down by it's flat side, creating an opening for her to near the scarlet haired mage. A heavy punch brought Erza crashing down, a dark orb chasing her. She saw the orb and knew what it meant, before it exploded she quickly shielded herself with her adamantium armor.

"C'mon Erza, drop that wall and let me in already." Mirajane pouted, Erza quickly turned and recieved a powerful flaming fist. While recovering in mid-air she changed into her black wing armor.

"I don't feel any need for that." She looked up at the demon. Finally sensing some real anger from her, She saw Mirajane charging at her. She certainly was fast right now, but Erza was capable of avoiding her strikes. A counterattack was landed in an opening of one of her blows. Mirajane was knocked back significantly. Erza followed up with Moon Slicer. The cross-shapred projectile landed flat on Mirajane's chest. Out of the smoke came a fire breath, Erza tanked it with her Flame Empress armor.

"That's kinda cheap, don't you think?" Mirajane hissed when she rose to her feet.

"I'd call it ... strategy." Erza smirked.

"Strategy my ass, that's mere countering." The take over mage was now getting slightly nervous. Another quick take over would exhaust her a lot, and this one wouldn't cut it with all that resistance her opponent had going for her right now.

'I wonder how Natsu'd act in a situation like that. He doesn't even have the option of using other magic.' Mirajane got an image of Natsu saying something.

'There's no real counter to fire, what'll they do? I can only imagine eating it, but not many have that ability. If they wanna tank up against it, burn them from the inside out!' He said while clenching his fist in fire. It made Mirajane smile.

'I'll have to thank him later.' She smiled, charging at Erza. The flaming fist connected with her chest.

"I thought you knew fire wouldn't do much to me in this armor?" Erza grinned down at her.

"Greetings from Natsu." Mirajane returned the grinning gesture.

"Eruption!" Inside the armor, a fiery explosion was set off. The pain Erza screamed out seemed unbearable.

"Might Erza be done after this? Is this the limit of the mighty Titania?"

".. Don't... Count me out.. Just ye-" Erza was silenced by a fire breath from Mirajane. After sensing no motion from Erza for a while Mirajane was declared the victor.

"That makes Mirajane Strauss the winner! Fairy Tail B gains 10 points!" Chapati announced. The splendid battle awakened loud cheers from the crowd. Even though the last part was rather cruel from Mirajane, she earned the victory.

"I owe you one." Mirarjane collapsed on Natsu's lap.

"Why's that, you fought amazing and all on your own!" He smiled.

"You gave me some advice right there just before I won." She looked up at his confused face.

"I did?"

"Believe it or not, yes." The face made her smile, she loved keeping him in the dark.

"Well, you did great nonetheless." Natsu raised her up and hugged her tightly.

* * *

Sorry for this shorty. I thought the length of the fight was good enough to make it last for an entire chapter, and I want your opinion on how I should handle the not-so-important fights! Am I allowed to just quickly rush through them?(kinda hoping for that) Should I write them out? (:c) Leave it down here! Plus, I didn't wanna leave you guys with yet another super delayed one. Well, I hope I can count on some helpful opinions! In fact, I have no doubt. Thanks y'all for pulling me through this!


	58. Chapter 58

I hereby announce the existance of my Natsu X Violet story to y'all! Published it the day before yesterday. Planned on writing a chappy yesterday for this story but my family took me out to an amusement park (was realz borez) :/ The story goes by the name: 'A Violet Ember' So if you're interested in the ship, be sure to check it out! I'll try to alternate uploads for each story, which will lead to less updatez. Damn it, I feel bad for not being able to upload more often :c Anyways, let's get on with the story.

* * *

The rest of the battle sequence wasn't as exciting as the first fight, by far. Nobarly from Quato cerberus ended up losing to Mermaid Heel's Milliana. After that, it was a win for Sabertooth by Orga against Toby from Lamia Scale. Raven Tail's Flare and Ren from Blue Pegasus ended up in a tie, he always escaped from her grip but couldn't dent her.

"Mira's grown really strong." Erza stated when she entered Fairy Tial A's quarters.

"Yeah, I heard her thanking Natsu for his advice. Has he really gotten her to that point while growing so much stronger himself? It's kinda hard to believe." Gray nodded and looked over to the fire mage.

"Mira has probably done a lot by herself, but no doubt that Natsu helped her through a lot. I mean, look at them. They're pretty much inserperable." Laxus motioned at them, seeing how they were all snuggled up to one another. It made most of them laugh, even though they tried to keep it to a minimum.

"Sometimes, I wish we could record these moments." Erza chuckled.

"So we could show them to the guild and embarass them?" Gray laughed before meeting the ground with his face.

"No, to cherish them." Erza growled. Gajeel, Freed and Laxus laughed at the broken tiles beneath Gray's face.

"Where are they going?" Freed asked, the rest noticed Mirajane and Natsu leaving the arena. Gray stood up and started walking off as well.

"What're you doing?" Erza grabbed his wrist, stopping his motion.

"To chase them, I'm getting kind of interested in what they do when no one's around." Hearing this, Erza's mind pictured all kinds of things. Eventually, she succumbed to the idea. The rest of the males were drawn into it as well. Upon leaving the large complex, they caught a glimpse of pink hair.

"That way!" Gajeel pointed out. They rushed to the corned and checked if they were there. Mirajane and Natsu were just entering a restaurant.

"He's taking her out for dinner?" Laxus muttered. They tried to look for a spot that was out of sight to them but still had good vision. When they found a comfortable alley that wouldn't immediatly reveal them, they turned their eyes to the table that the mages were sitting at.

"Phew, glad they picked a table close to the window." Gray sighed in relief.

"What can I bring you?" A waitor appeared.

"I'll have whatever he's having." Mirajane smiled up at him.

"You sure about that?" Natsu raised an eyebrow at her.

"Surprise me." She laid her head in her hands and stared intently at him. Natsu smirked and whispered something to the waitor, he smiled before nodding and walking off. Mirajane knew nothing of his order except for what he had motioned, which still left her clueless.

"So, what'd you get us?" She asked.

"It's a surprise." He grinned at her.

"What're they laughing about?" Gajeel wondered.

"How the hell should we know? You're the one with sensitive hearing!" Gray nearly yelled.

"Shhh, keep it quiet." Freed silenced them.

"Here we are." The man returned with quite a heavy load. Between the two mages stood a deluxe sorbet/mikshake thing with intertwined straws surrounded by many sweets and two heavy chunks of steak with some tomato salad on top of that.

"Ehm, I doubt you ordered that." Mirajaned pointed at all of the goods before her.

"Eh, I got some advice from someone." Natsu grinned as he heard a 'You're welcome' echoing through his head, an image of the crimson man flashed before Natsu. He was grinning widely and dug right into the meat.

"Oh... damn .. Mira, you gotta taste this!" He spoke between chumps, it made the white-haired woman laugh. Even though they've grown much older, Natsu still had these kind of tendencies. She didn't mind, Mirajane wouldn't give Natsu like the way he is up for anything. She started with a piece of salad before taking a bite from the meat.

"Oh, so they added a little accent of rosemarine. They also used less salt and more pepper. I'll keep that in mind." Natsu stared at her, cluelessly. She enjoyed him that way. They had to get really close to drink from the giant cup that had too much in it to be able to name it properly.

"Can they even pay for that?" Laxus asked aloud.

"I don't know, but watching them is starting to get me hungry." Gajeel whined.

"Shh, they're checking out!" Erza silenced them, the group watched Natsu and Mirajane leave for the streets. The light was starting to dim, night was approaching. After they had left enough space between them, the group spurted from one hiding place to another. When they lost sight of them they ran to the end of the street. Much to their relief, they were still there. Gajeel caught up to them after buying some 'food'.

"Can you munch that down a bit quieter?" Freed sweat dropped when he heard Gajeel's chewing.

"Oh god, Mira's checking out the jewelry..." Laxus sighed once he saw the woman staring at the shiny stones on the marketplace.

"I hope Natsu'll be okay." Gray sympathized with the fire mage.

"What's so wrong with a girl checking out some jewelry?" Erza asked, slightly irritated.

"You wouldn't understand..." All of them waved her off.

"Natsu, wouldn't this look great!" He was greeted by Mirajane's smiling face once more, this time with a beautiful necklace. Natsu's smile showed sincere happiness when he looked at her, that was all she needed.

"I knew it." She turned around and paid for the necklace.

"Uhm, how expensive was that?" Natsu stared at the merchant, who was grinning widely.

"100 thousand Jewels." She smiled.

"I can only imagine how pissed Makarov'd be if it were his money." Natsu shook it off with a joke. They continued walking down the road until Natsu suddenly patted his back pockets.

"Shit, I think I dropped my wallet back there! Wait here, I'll go look for it." With that, he ran off like a maniac. She sighed while watching him. Natsu grinned while passing the groups' hiding spot.

"Shit, did he see us?" Gajeel cursed.

"Let's hope not..." Erza replied.

"Sir, do you have it?" Natsu asked the merchant quietly while pulling out his wallet.

"Indeed I do, she must be pretty important huh?"

"Very." Natsu replied. Mirajane stood by idly until she was greeted by an unfamiliar voice.

"Yo, sugar, care for some company?" She turned and faced a man who seemed rather confident in his abilities.

"Company?" She asked, pretending to be oblivious to their intentions.

"Yeah, we sure as hell would like to get to know you better." Mirajane felt him throw his arms around her and another one of the men move towards her ass. She leaned in close to his ears.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Sorry? What fo-" The man started but quickly recieved his answer by a flaming fist.

"Get the hell away from her!"

"Natsu, calm down. These men were only acting on their desires, they can't help it." Mirajane glared down at the two men Natsu knocked into the collected garbage of an alley close to them.

"Sorry." He gave in after looking deeply into Mirajane's eyes, she smiled to show him her forgiveness.

"Remember to never lay a hand on Mirajane." Laxus commented on the scene before him.

"Will do." He recieved a pat on the back by Gray.

"They're moving towards the park, c'mon!" Freed motioned them to start moving. By now it was already dark and the stars were very visible in the clear sky above Crocus. The park was quiet, not many people were still out by this time.

"The stars are really bright right now." Mirajane laid herself down in the grass after Natsu.

"They sure are." He sighed.

"The size of all this, the sky, how many stars there are, reminds me of how much we've been through..." Natsu started, recieving Mirajane's attention.

"A lot has happened, and we've been through all of it together. If I can, I'd like to bind myself to you even more." She felt him shuffle beneath her.

"That's why, we can add another piece of jewelry to the picture." The sound of a little box opening widened Mirajane's eyes. When she sat up, she was looking down at a beautiful silver ring with a bright sapphire engraved in it.

"Mirajane, will you marry me?" In a bush nearby, 4 jaws had hit the ground as well as tears from a fifth companion.

"N-Natsu, I ... Of course!" She cried and leapt in his arms. Natsu had to struggle to keep himself from dropping the ring.

"I'm happy to hear that." He smiled at her calmly. When she looked up at him, she pushed towards his lips. Natsu was forced into a passionate lip-lock by the woman he loved. With no sense of doubt, he deepened the kiss. After finally seperating, Natsu called out.

"You can come out now!" Mirajane turned towards the rustling bushes to see her friends standing before them.

"Y-You knew?" She turned towards the fire dragon slayer, he smiled brightly.

"Congratulations!" They all charged at them.

"Hey, keep it a secret for now, ok?" Natsu requested, they nodded in understanding.

"You're lucky the GMG is going on! You can be sure that I'll keep you up all night planning this whole thing out!" Mirajane threatened.

"I wouldn't have it any other way..."

* * *

And there we go, a Natsu X Mira special on this one! Btw, I'm TERRIBLE with food. The reason for that is... I don't .. care ... about ... food. FOOD IS OVERRATED, I keep telling people. Seriously though, I'm not bothered with food in the slightest and don't know shit about it. I just eat whatever's presented to me. So, be sure to check that second story of mine out if you're interested! Now, I'm gonna take my leave, see y'all!


	59. Chapter 59

I've been rather terrible with keeping up a scoreboard, haven't I? Welp, here's the second day then. Pff, what kind of event shall it be? You guys will probably find out faster than I will as I am writing this. I woke up with the most useless sleeping piece of shit arm ever, was kind of weird. Why am I telling you guys this? ... *Turns away awkwardly*

* * *

When they returned, Natsu had once again repeated his request to keep the proposal a secret until at least after the games. Most were already in their bed, however Makarov grunted when the group passed his room. The loud groan alerted them, but they managed to sneak by without waking him up. As soon as they were safe, the couple crashed into their bed. Their faces turned from their pillow to each other. Smiling, they closed in on one another before engaging in a deep kiss. Natsu obviously had greater plans as he moved his hands down her body. Mirajane covered her mouth after moaning and moved Natsu's hand away.

"We can't do that, we'd wake the whole place up!" She silently lectured the man.

"That's a risk that I'm willing to take, but I guess you're not." He grinned before backing down.

"We need to rest, tomorrow will be another day of the games and we can't afford to be slacking off." She dug into her pillow while closing her eyes.

"Aye, aye." Natsu muttered. He turned to take another glance at Mirajane before closing his eyes...

"See?! I told you he'd be fine with just me." Violet was in another argument with Spark about the passed day.

"Yeah, yeah, we got it. So Natsu, who will you use tomorrow?" The lightning spirit turned towards the dragon slayer.

"Hm, well tomorrow I'll probably be in a duel, so I think I want to show 'em what the good old crimson flame can do!" Natsu gave his words more strength by punching the air a couple of times.

"But don't worry, tomorrow we'll make some sparks fly, you and me." He reassured Spark.

"Ah well, gotta save the best for last, right?" He grinned.

"You keep telling yourself that." Violet commented.

"I don't have to tell myself I'm faster than you, I know that for sure!" He countered.

"We should put that to the test..." She smirked. Natsu recieved visions of a younger him and Gray fighting. It amused him.

"You don't seem to mind them fighting, what gives?" Blue noticed Natsu's amusement.

"When he was a kid, he did just the same thing with that ice mage." Blaze answered his question.

"Oh yeah, you were with me all that time." Natsu turned to face them. I think anyone would have trouble keeping in mind that they've been watched their entire life by some supernatural being stuck inside their head.

"I must say, it was kinda hilarious at times. Especially when he beated you big time, you'd be so stubborn to not admit defeat." The man looked skywards, thinking back.

"We were all kids at some points, and kids just are that way." Natsu replied.

"You're saying your stubborness was a common thing amongst humans? Reminds me to never make the mistake of raising one again." Igneel joined the conversation.

"Hey there, big bro. Awake, I see. Usually you're just nappin' next to that fire over there." Blaze pointed at the flame that resembled Natsu's consciousness.

"Mind your own business, I think I well-deserve my rest." Igneel grunted as he raised his head away from the crimson flame spirit.

"Obviously." Natsu chuckled.

"Oh yeah, meant to tell ya. We were pretty much swimming in Violet's tears up here when you proposed." Spark informed Natsu.

"Really?" He looked over at the embarassed woman. She obviously had no intention of denying it, which pleased Natsu.

"Thanks." The people around him found it a weird thing to say.

"Huh?" She questioned herself.

"It means you care greatly, I appreciate that." He smiled at her.

"Well duh, we all do." She stood up and sat down next to him with all the others, Spark did the same.

"Heh, but you're the only one who cried." She seemed ticked off at that.

"I'm also the only woman around here!" The group laughed heavily. It got cozier every time Natsu got here, he was really happy to have them around. He also knew these people would never ever leave them, they were part of him. With that in mind, he let out a deep sigh. One that his sleeping body also let out.

"Natsu..." a whisper came to his ears.

"Natsu..." It repeated itself. Natsu grunted when he started to understand what was going on.

"It's time." He dug deeper into his pillow, but was forced to awaken by the stimulation of Mirajane.

"Damn it, Mira!" He jumped up. He didn't appreciate someone grinding her body against his own while he was sleeping.

"It's not like you don't like it." She countered.

"Well, yeah ... but not while I'm sleeping!" He pouted.

"I had to do SOMETHING, right? Anyways, we need to get ready." She got out of bed and grabbed her clothes while tossing Natsu his own.

"Today's your turn." He called out when he got dressed.

"And yours to fight." She replied.

"I fought yesterday already."

"C'mon, that's not fighting like I know you can." She countered. Natsu heard a small 'Touché' in his head.

"No hate on Violet!" Natsu growled.

"So that's what the girl of that flame's called? Should I be concerned." Mirajane teased him.

"I respect her as any other, and they've all been through enough stuff in their lives. I don't want to discomfort them when there's no need to."

"So, they're really valuable friends, aren't they? Just like the guild." Natsu nodded.

"Yeah, and they've never been treated as such."

"Never?" It surprised Mira slightly.

"Never, all the previous fire dragon slayers were only after their power. If they weren't willing to give them the power they were looking for, they were tossed aside." He looked down, saddened by the idea. Mirajane hugged his back suddenly.

"But now they've got you, they couldn't wish for anyone better." Natsu smiled over his shoulder at her.

"I'm just gonna make sure everyone close to me knows they're real people and that they matter, because they do." He turned around and returned her hug.

"You make me want to meet them." She smiled up at him.

"Who knows? There might be a way."

"Well, maybe. But for now, we need to get going!" Mirajane dragged him out of the room.

"Welcome to the second day of the Grand Magic Games! Participants, step forward... We will start the day off with a special race! Today's event will bea small competition of reaching the finish line the fastest. The course will be filled with a variety of zones, each with their own attributes." Chapati, who had a different hairstyle, informed all.

"I'm sure Spark's really sad by now." Natsu looked up at the screen.

'You've got no idea...' Blaze echoed through his head.

"If you look at the lacrima screens right now, you can take a look at the course these mages will run through. There are four zones total, each representing one of the basic elements. FIrst there's earth, followed by water, then fire, and lastly air. After getting a look of the whole course, the camera moved the the beginning. Mirajane from Fairy Tail B, Risley from Mermaid Heel, Ren from Blue Pegasus, Rocker from Quatro Cerberus, Jura from Lamia Scale, Kurohebi from Raven Tail, Rogue from Sabertooth and Freed from Fairy Tail A were ready to start.

"Time for the countedown! 3!" Mato filled the stadium with his voice.

"2!" The crowd followed.

"3!" The whole stadium shouted.

"Go!" Mato called.

* * *

Sorry for making it a shorter one today, I'm just too tired to do it at this point. Took me a while, sat here for ages. I guess I got a bit carried away with the rambling to the point that I didn't even include anything that I should've :P Oh well, tomorrow I'll update the other story, then do nothing for a day and get back to this story!


	60. Chapter 60

Don't judge me! Vacation is coming to an end and I'm just trying to enjoy myself, ok? Sue me. So I'll get to upload two more chapters before school starts and I don't know what my schedule will be afterwards, as I've said many times. I figured the chapters would be pretty terrible if I wasn't up for it and would just rush through. So I'm assuming my mood is pretty important and sometimes even overrides the importance of the update schedule. I'm still trying my best, so I guess that counts.

* * *

When the race started, all of the mages started running as fast as they could. No one was using any magic yet, they were presumably saving it for when they really needed it. For now, it was a flat landscape that they were rushing through with few obstacles. Jura figured that he'd have an advantage in this sequence, so he started using the earth to his advant age. Multipile pillars rose from the ground, blocking many mages' path. Eventually, he had trapped them in a contraption and ran off himself. None of them planned on taking it just like that and Rocker Dug his way through with his Drill 'n Rock magic (#Spin2Win)

After Rocker, Rogue escaped through the shadows, leaving the other mages to quarrel for passage through the small hole. Kurohebi managed to copy Rogue's technique, and got out fairly quickly as well. The quarrel was brought to an end by a dark orb passing them all, blowing up the majority of the earthen barrier. Turning to see the Demon Mirajane, some spurted off in fear.

Jura reached the portal to the next zone first. He smirked when he leapt towards it, but was smacked away by a giant rock fist. When he rose to his feet, he noticed the huge rock body before him.

"An earth elemental, quite rare they are." Showing recognition, Jura mumbled to himself. However, much to his surprise, he was completely unable to manipulate the elemental or any of the ground near it.

"Must be a magnetic field he's using to keep everything in place." Then, Kurohebi showed up to the scene with Rogue. Freed materliazed in runes a bit further away. He took in the scene before him and nodded before setting up a few runes. Later, the large group managed to catch up. They watched the fight between Jura, Rogue, Kurohebi and the giant boulder. Naturally, they tried to sneak into the portal. When they attempted to, they were stopped by a wall of runes that told them that permission was granted upon the defeat of the earth elemental. S

ighing, they all turned to engage in combat. The giant monstrosity seemed to notice the number of opponents had increased. He turned sideways and slammed his arms into the ground, sending a shockwave to both waves of mages. Most of them leapt out of the way, while Mirajane jumped up and immediatly punched the boulder down to the ground. She followed up with a rain or dare energy. Upon landing once more, she watched her competition expectedly. After catching on, they charged ahead. The driling from Rocker was very effective against the beast. Risley managed to split the cracks open even further with heavy gravitational force and a heavy magical investment. After the earth elemental was nothing more but a pile of rocks that held no magical power whatsoever, Freed's rune barrier dropped.

Jumping out of the portal, the group entered the water zone. All around them was nothing but a sea, supporting them was nothing but a frozen platform of ice. The many divided platforms were seperated and drifting apart, so quick footwork was key. The first one to rush off, Ren, tripped flat on his face. After receiving spiteful grins from many who passed him, he stood up and gushed past them with his Levitation. Kurohebi seemed rather keen on this ability and copied it. Risley used her gravitational magic to raise the water beneath these two up and catch them in the current. It took little effort to get out, but it did delay them down to last place. Rocker was second, after Freed. He used this time to his advantage by creating a whirlpool, drawing in all ice platforms and mages into it. Anyone who could fly was fine, but if you were trapped in there you wouldn't get out anytime soon. Mirajane, Ren, Kurohebi and Risley managed to cross, but Jura and Rogue would have a problem with this. Their platform was moving in on the whirlpool, and the two had no idea what they would do.

"We can both get out of here if we cooperate, shadow dragon slayer." Rogue nodded, seeing the reason in his proposal. Jura did his best to summon the ground, far beneath the water surface, upwards. He lifted the earth above them, casting a shadow all over the surrounding area. Rogue was then capable of manipulating that shadow to create a bridge for them both to cross.

By now, Freed has already reached the gaint water elemental. It's limbs were rather small in comparison to it's large Torso, all of which were made from pure ice, connected to one another by streams of water. The monster was very swift, disregarding it's heavy body. Freed naturally equipped his rune wings for increased mobility and evasion. However, as soon as Freed flew upwards to dodge a strike, a stream of water disjointed and caught him in mid-air. Freed was sucked into the monstrosity's hollow right arm, and was held there. A small amount of air was granted to him, but otherwise he could do hardly anything. He could feel his magic power weakening.

When the two last mages arrived, they caputred the sight of Mirajane sending the water elemental ablaze while Rocker and Kurohebi were trying to break through it's thick ice. When it stomped down on the ground, thanks to the heavy drilling of the two mages, it's leg shattered. It was left imbalanced and fell down to the large ice platform it was located on. Freed managed to crawl out of his cage, being extremely exhausted. They all took this oppertunity to move to the next zone.

The burning land fliled with lava bursts and scorched earth was a place that seemed familiar to Mirajane. She had been to a similar place before, and it wasn't very hard to adapt to the temperature for her. Natsu knew what she was thinking about and the memory brought a smile to his face. Most of the others who were incapable of flying seemed to have a lot of trouble with the heat. A scream filled all ears when Risley was almost burned to a crip by lava that had erupted from the ground right next to her. After feeling and hearing the ground shudder for a while, a lot more eruptions followed. The party was now running for most of their lives with as much speed as they could get from their magic. A loud sound echoed across the fiery earthlands. The group of mages looked to their left and watched a heavy volcanic eruption. However, this isn't what drew most of their attention, the incoming fireballs were. With much panick, they all ran in between one another, trying to evade all of the incoming projectiles. Mirajane looked our for smaller ones, and when she saw them, she'd roundhouse kick them straight into her competition. After showing this for the first time, the crowed cheered loudly at the strength she showed once more.

Soon they were met by two fire salamanders, after them stood the fire elemental. A giant ,lava-filled, floating, obsidian rock with two spiked coming out of it's back. Having regained most of his magic energy since the encagement, Freed casted the Absolute Shadow on himself. He informed the rest that he will take one of the salamanders. Kurohebi copied the spell to equip the same armor with long black hair covering his back, to fight the remaining salamander. They decided to besiege the great fiery being from both flanks. Jura and Mirajane would act very defensively, while the rest would put out as much hurt as they could. Ren managed to put out the most damage with his air slicers. After blocking many of it's fireballs, firebreaths, lavabursts and scorching stompsj, Mirajane and Jura were starting to feel a bit drained. Luckiliy, there were enough dents in the fiery body for Rocker to make the final move together with Kurohebi, who had just finished his business with the salamander. Together, they went for the finishing move by drilling into it's chest until the fire elemental shattered apart, granting them easy access to the next and final zone.

Now, the air zone was high up in the air with floating platforms of earth both vertically and horizontally. When they set foot, they noticed that the earth was in fact above them, rather than below them.

"A gravity game it is." Risley snickered, they knew that from here on out she would make it rather difficult for them. The next platform was to the upper right of them, they wondered how they could do this until Mirajane, ren, Kurohebi and Freed fell right to it.

"Each of these must have their own gravity zone." You had to angle your jumps according to the gravitational change, which proved rather difficult if you had no magic that could support you in doing so. And of course, Risley would just make it that little bit harder. Navigating through it was manageable for people with flight or something to aid them in the jump like Rocker's spins or Jura's earth magic. Rogue seemed to have a rather big problem here. The shadow was unreliable so high up in the air, and he had no real other way of traversing these gaps. Until he looked up to see Mirajane's hand stretched out to him. Her smiled convinced him to take it. The stadium was pretty surprised by this, and so was everyone else in the race.

"What's she doing?"

"I get that they need to fight together but not in this part of the event."

"Is she trying to win him over or something?"

Whispers could be heard all around the stadium, question Mirajane's actions. The participants paid it no mind and continued moving through the zone until the end. They were starting to doubt their interactions, Mirajane had set a great example for them. The doubts vanished when they reached the final elemental. The giant consisted of aerial currents and lightning spreading through it's body while wearing stormclouds as a dress. It had a very slim figure. All the mages were lacking a lot of their energy by now and this opponent was gonna be tough to damage. Ren's aerial slicers wouldn't connect, neither would Jura's rocks. They switched to a lot of spells with a large area of effect.

Rogue's shadow roar combined with Mirajane's fire roar seemed to have done something, while enraging the being. It had a pretty easy time hitting all of them at once with lightning. Numbness was soon catching all of them, so they had to act quickly before they would just drop to their knees. Until Freed got an idea. When they all nodded, Risley started by pressing the being together. Rocker and Kurohebi would then redirect the air around them by spinning. As a result, a tornado around them was formed. This sucked in all the coming fire with it, heating up the air. The dispersing lightning bolts were caught by Jura's rocks. Mirajane kept adding fire until it seemed to no longer be able to handle it. Jura casted his Rock Mountain to protect everyone from the explosion caused by the overload. After the nova passed them, the finish was right there.

"And with that, the victor of the event is everyone!" Chapati announced, much to everyone's surprise.

"This event was a very unique one that wasn't about being first, but about the ability to lay your differences aside and cooperate to minimize the risks of a mission. This is something very important to keep in mind when you're out on the field. The reward for ending up victorious in this event is a doublt point booster for tomorrow's event!"

* * *

So, I really didn't wanna have even more delay on the chapter. I kinda forced it out there, so that's why it might be a little worse than usual. Ugh, I've been playing too much Divinity. This chapter did make some connections in my head to that game. So hey, the event had more to it than what most thought at first. At least, that's what I hope I made from it. So I'm happy I got this done, one more chapter until the end of summer vacation for this story, sad face. Well, I guess that chapter oughta be something then... I take that back, I can't promise something like that ;)


	61. Chapter 61

Have been preparing for school, got off a plane the other day. Told my family the plan crashed in sea, they totally fell for it ... except not really. Regardless of that, I'm gonna see what I can get going here. And for fuck's sake, I've been literally the single worst when it comes to posting a scoreboard, I keep forgetting! Curse on me, I know I'll probably forget even this chapter. Also, I finally went back and corrected those awfully misplaced 'Glare's, wtf was wrong with me? Anyways, I haven't been able to upload this week because I was sitting without internet. I stay at a boarding school during the week, and it just had some construction going and stuff. They told me the net will be there next week, so I hope to be able to upload something for this story by Tuesday maybe. If I can manage to, I'd like to update in the weekend for both my stories, Tuesday for this one and Thursday for the second one. No promises, but that's what I strive to.

* * *

"I think you deserve a better reward."

"Why's that?" Mirajane directed her eyes from the window towards the pink-haired mage before her.

"You totally set the prime example of the message the event was based around!" She chuckled.

"And what was that message?" She supported her head with her hands as she spoke with a seductive voice.

"To work together, I wasn't sleeping!" Natsu tried to ignore whatever desire she had from him, as she had already made obvious to him that she had one.

"And how was that formulated?" That was rather unexpected, Natsu had to think for a bit.

"It's not a competition. Wouldn't giving other people a better reward than others conflict with that?" She laughed before reasoning. Natsu grunted, knowing she had a point.

"Why do you always have to outsmart me?" The pouting came, Mirajane's favorite part.

"Because I simply do. You don't mind that much, do you?" She looked at him with those deep eyes that simply couldn't be ignored.

"Y-..N.. Damn it, Mira. Stop messing with me all the time!"

"But it's so fun, and I'm really happy I'm the only one who gets to do it to you." She smiled widely at him, keeping him from getting upset. That smile would always calm him down.

"Besides..." Natsu heard before Mirajane pushed up to him, hugging him tightly.

"You need to get warmed up for your fight." She whispered in his ears before leaving a kiss in his cheek. Going in on her suggestion, Natsu left to do some warm-ups.

"Alright, let's do this!"

"I'm ready when you are!" The voice of the lightning flame spirit echoed through his mind. The lightning flame engulfed Natsu's fist. He prepared an attack on a solid rock, making an attempt at shattering it. At a tremendous speed, the fire mage dashed towards the hard surface and shattered the boulder.

"Well, that wasn't much of a challenge... You should get a sparring partner, Natsu!" The lightning flame spirit suggested.

"I doubt anyone would be up for that after the stuff we pulled. But I think we're good regardless." The man reasoned.

"Sure we are, but it's more fun that way." Spark retalliated.

"I guess you got a point there." Natsu chuckled.

"It's a bit boring, but just a few more and we're done he-ARGH!" Natsu feel to his knees, sensing a sharp pain piercing his chest. Looking down, he sees black flames spread from his chest.

"The hell?"

"Don't worry, it's a good thing." A menacing voice echoed throughout his mind.

"Oh god, it's not you, is it?" Spark questioned, but the voice had already faded.

"Damn it! Ugh, it hurts. Spark, do you know who or what the hell that was?" Natsu stood up with huge effort, keeping a tight grip on the wound in his chest. He opened his shirt widely, and noticed it had left some sort of scar. A black rune, is what was on Natsu's stomach.

"I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that was Grim."

"The spirit of the dark flame, I take it?

"Yeah, that's what he is."

"I guess our previous joining didn't wipe it all out. So he's within me, just like you guys?" Natsu looks down onto the rune once more, questioning the dark spirit's subtlety.

"Yeah, just a little more hidden away, we can't reach him." Natsu sighed.

"He has no evil intentions, does he?"

"He shouldn't, he's ... let's call it 'playful'."

"Great..." Not exactly something Natsu should be dealing with right now. He should be worrying about the Games rather than a random spirit invading his body.

"If he's got no ill intentions, then I'm fine with him. Who knows, he might not be as bad as you guys said he is. Maybe he's a nice guy when you get to know him." Natsu tried to be optimistic.

"The sun never goes down for you, does it now Natsu?" Spark kinda sweatdropped at the boy's attitude, Natsu's boldness rivaled his very own.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's a reference to yo- just leave it." Spark gave up on reasoning with the man.

"Alright then, question is, will he interfere?"

"With your magic, or us? He shouldn't, I don't think he can either."

"Good, now what about this thing on my stomach?"

"Grim said this was a good thing, and he might be right."

"What do you mean by that?" Natsu was surprised by the lightning spirit's cryptic answer.

"Those kind of runes resemble the bond you and us share. Indirectly, it makes you stronger. I'm sure that shortly, you'll get runes complimenting mine and the others' elements as well."

"Then why am I getting his first? My bond is the least strong with him, I just freaking met him!"

"I don't know, I've never whitnessed the appearance of these runes before. You're the first to have ever bonded so far with our kind."

"Well, I guess it IS a good thing then. He certainly has his way of showing himself, though..." Natsu pouted while rubbing his stomach. The rune was in black, a skull covering the word 'Dark' in ancient dragon language.

"You might wanna inform Mira. You know that, with the way she is, she'll find out eventually. You don't want to have to explain things to your woman, those are the kind of situations every man wants to avoid." Surprised by Spark's 'Life lesson', Natsu nodded.

"I guess you're right. Must say, I did not expect that from you."

"What, lady-knowledge?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, what woman other than Violet have you ever met? And it's not like you two are particularly close or anything, at least not in that way."

"You know, I pick things up while watching over other ... slightly perverted people." Natsu made a 'Gotcha' motion while shrugging off the topic and moving towards the inn. Mirajane heard the door open and turned around, expecting to greet her mate. Her smile faded when she was greeted by the sinister grin of Sting and Rogue.

"Excuse me, this inn is reserved for Fairy Tail and no other guid. How did you get past everyone?"

"We're well aware of that, and oops, we must've passed all those people on our way up without noticing them or them noticing us." Sting answered.

"So, what exactly are you doing here? Their reply didn't come, as they seemed to slowly near her while moving their hands in front of them in a grabbing motion. Natsu had just entered the building and was moving up the stairs as he heard a fight break out in his room.

"Mirajane!" He ran up as fast as he could, which wasn't as fast as it should be thanks to his pain. Once he opened the door, Mirajane stood watching over two unconscious bodies in her Satan Soul form. The two men had a satisfied smile on their face.

"What happened, who are they?" Natsu quickly made sure she was all right as he asked her the question, showing his concern.

"I don't know, I thought you came back when they stood in the doorway. They touched me, damn it!" Natsu was dumbfounded, he didn't know what confused him more: That someone managed to get near her with that intention and lived to tell the tale, or that they were stupid enough to attempt it in the first place. He heard a grunt from one of them and immediatly jumped in front of his woman.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Sting rose to his feet, rubbing the back of his head. When he turned to look at Natsu, he immediatly laughed loudly.

"I'm sorry, we mean no harm. Sometimes, we just can't contain ourselves, you see? We actually came to meet you, and found her... all by herself... harmless as ever. Anyways, the name's Sting!" The blonde mage stretched his hand out. Doubting for a moment, Natsu shook it.

"My pal here is Rogue, he possesses some shadow magic that allowed us to sneak past everyone, we kinda didn't want to cause that much of a ruckus... even though we sorta did." Rogue was now standing up as well.

"Give me one reason to not throw you guys the hell out of the window right now." Natsu threatened.

"Whoa there, we really meant no harm. See, I've actually admired you ever since I was little. I'm just here to see my idol in person after all this time he was gone, is that so wrong?" Sting spread his arms innocently.

"I guess it's not, but you could've been a bit more... subtle."

"You're right, sorry. What's that? I haven't seen that one before, got a new tattoo or something?" Sting pointed at Natsu's stomach.

"Natsu, what is that? You didn't tell me about this."

"Hey, gimme a break, I just freaking got it! I was gonna tell you when I came back, but then these guys were here!" Natsu pointed an accusing finger at the two mages.

"Hey, hey, not our fault you didn't tell your woman something she deserved to know!" Natsu shoved his forehead against Sting's.

"You little-" He couldn't finish his sentence as Mirajane pulled him back.

"They've had enough of a beating for today. I'm serious, what is it? It's not just a tattoo or something, I sense magic coming from it."

"It's... some sort of rune that's supposed to resemble the bond between me and those spirits. The odd part is that this one's from one I apparently just got. The spirit of those dark flames might've just 'invaded' my body at random when I was working out.

"What? The crap that mindcontrolled you?" Natsu nodded.

"But that was when the spirit wasn't there, so it's not raging rampant inside of my mind now. I don't know what he's like or anything, didn't get to talk to him."

"It won't hurt you or anything, will it?"

"No, if anything, it's supposed to make me stronger."

"Even stronger? That's so cool!"

"Yeah, you know, could you guys leave us for a bit? You can wait outside, I'll meet you there." Natsu tried to get rid of the two mages.

"Bu-"

"I SAID: GET OUT!"

* * *

So, I decided to make Sting and Rogue a little bit more of the fanboys I expected them to be. Especially now that Natsu's hasn't skipped out on those 7 years in growth, Sting knows he's no chance for him and still looks up to him. I hope it's a fun change! Just like many other things, I picked up the loose end of the black flame stuff and tied it onto the story again. There's often stuff like that where I can implement it back later on, it's pretty fun to be able to do that. Thanks for reading, I hope I can update next week, if not, it's for the weekend!


	62. Chapter 62

So hey, was yet another week without net :c I'm back once more and sincerely hope they'll have it all fixed once I return to the boarding school I stay at during the week. For now, this chapter'll have to satisfy you all. I totally visioned a scene in the future of this story, looked totally awesome too, sadly there's no way I can properly describe it. Sad face, why must my abilities be oh so limited! I feel kind of bad for having really slow updates, and it's really my fault too. During the week, I'm just sitting there like 'I can't upload anyways, so why write?' Damn my lack of motivation! I've seriously been missing out on that actually. I need to come up with something to be hyped about. Just in my other story, I recently 'released' Violet. I was thinking about that all week. It did make the 4K words, largest chapter I've written. Not that it's very impressive, but it's something. Enough about that, you're here to read this story!

* * *

The two dragon slayers were alerted by the sound of a door closing. Looking to said door, Natsu was seen.

"What _exactly_ was the idea of this all?" A slow and heavy voice revealed Natsu's suspicions.

"You still don't believe us? I came here to meet the person I've looked up to my whole life in person. It's good to see that you made it through that event." Sting tried to assure Natsu, yet this brought him to another question.

"What has been said about that, seven years ago?"

"They told us that you and the other mages on the island were annihalated by a dragon. I didn't believe it at first, but after not hearing anything about any of you for so long..."

"Sometimes, it's easier to believe what you're told. No one blames you for that." Natsu brings his hand down to Sting's shoulder. The blonde mage raises his head with a laugh.

"I guess you're right. Rogue's here because of Gajeel, but we didn't find him inside. Any idea where he might be?" Rogue's eyes shifted a bit after hearing the change of subject.

"Gajeel? The bastard's probably chomping on some iron right now. Where, however, I don't know."

"Oh well, we'll find him. I know Rogue will, at least. So you just get a good fight going this afternoon!" Sting runs off with his friend while waving at Natsu, who is still flustered by them.

"Strange folk, they are." Mirajane showed up from behind him.

"You can say that again. At least I always have one place to return to when the world's getting too much for me." Natsu smiles at her, Mirajane looks up at him with a questioning look.

"Where's that?"

"With you, of course." When he earned her smile, Natsu pulled the woman into a hug. Before they could do anything else, a loud cough was heard from behind Natsu. They turned around to meet the penetrating stare of the guild.

"It's not that hard to keep that kind of stuff for your room, is it?"

"Aw c'mon, we weren't even doing anything!" Natsu retorts.

"Sure you were, I know what you wanted to do. I can see it all in your eyes!" Gray pointed at his eyes, then at Natsu's. The fire mage just stood there, questioning his friend's skill at the art of body language or his sanity . It was probably the latter, but there's always the possibility.

"Whatever, let's just get ready for the afternoon." Natsu brushes him off as he walks right past everyone.

"Yeah, you better be ready!" Elfman slams Gray's head into the ground with a swift strike.

"If you're not manly enough to take a hit, you're not manly enough to compete!" His roars were silenced by ice crawling up to his mouth from his foot.

"Shut up, Elfman!" Multiple cries followed. Mirajane was left chuckling on the sidelines as she left the group to head inside.

"We better get back, we don't wanna be late!" She shouted towards the upper floor.

"I'll be right there!" The vague voice of Natsu was heard. Not a minute later he jumped down the stairs and met her with a quick kiss while rushing past her. She immediatly sprinted after him.

"We're back with the battle sequence of the second day of the GMG! What do you think of today's matchups, Yajima?" Chapati turned towards his co-commentator.

"I believe they promise exciting fights as well as impressive scenes. Each of the individual fighters have proven to be very strong in the past."

"Alright, first up would be Mermaid Heel's Kagura Mikazuchi versus Quatro Cerberus' Bacchus!" The two mages now entered the battlefield, loud cheers following. Many were cheering for Kagura because she was: A. Good-looking. B. Scary as hell. Others were cheering for Bacchus because he was an alcoholic, and a good fighter along with that.

"I'd tell you to prepare, but a drunkard does not do such a thing." Kagura glared him down.

"Sure thing, I go with whatever's presented to me as it comes! So... come at me." Bacchus provoked her with a motion, strengthening his words.

"BEGIN!"

Kagura launched forward, moving with great speed towards her opponent. As she was already halfway there, Bacchus started moving as well. He slowly shifted forward, until his speed raised to the same level as his opponents'. When they met, Bacchus' first attempt at a strike was slapped away by Kagura's Archnemesis, who then turned to take a swing at Bacchus' other arm. The drunken fighter used his foot to bring the sheathed sword out of it's course, leading to his evasion of the blow. Kagura spun around. When she was facing the opposite direction, she plunged her weapon behind her. Bacchus' palm connected with the woman's back at the same time as the Archnemesis plunged into his stomach. Kagura was now sliding over the sand with her face into the ground, while Bacchus was rolling at a tremendous speed before crashing into the wall.

"And the first strike goes to both of them! What tremendous agility, speed! Even though they are on par when it comes to these things, their fighting style is not even comparable. Kagura's so coordinated, while Bacchus is so carefree!" Chapati took in what he just saw, and announced it for everybody to hear. As Kagura got up, she grit her teeth. She herself felt disgraced by 'being on par' with a drunkard. She wouldn't let it get to her, however. She remained in place for a second, with closed eyes. Bacchus himself grinned at the sight, having no idea what to expect. It's how he preferred things: not knowing. The alcoholic now took a few chugs from his liquor.

"And Bacchus takes a sip, or two, or three! We're about to see the true art of drunken fighting!" When Kagura heard this, she opened her eyes. First walking towards one another, then running, then sprinting once more. Before they clashed, Kagura changed the gravity close to the ground sideways. Bacchus nearly fell on his back, the swordfighter took this oppertunity to deliver a blow. However, instead of struggling with the changed gravity, Bacchus hardly moved a muscle. This was unexpected and resulted in Kagura's attack missing. Surprised by Bacchus' calm movement, she received a powerful palm strike to the face. Quickly regaining her balance in mid-air. She slid across the sand while leaving a subtle, dark trail behind. Bacchus paid this no mind and chased her down. When he stepped over the tainted sand, Kagura used her magic to raise him and sandblocks. She forced the sand together, hardening it. Bacchus was surrounded by Kagura's weapon, encased in a prison of pain.

"Kagura managed to turn the tide after such a surprising and powerful blow from Bacchus!"

"Apologies, but it's over now." One by one, the hardened sandblocks launched themselves at Bacchus. He managed to deflect the first few, but after increasing the pace of the attacks he could not keep up. From all directions, he got pulverized by a barrage of Kagura's trap with heavy force. The last one smashed him straight to the ground. Kagure walked over to her incapacitated opponent, making sure he was out. When she got near, Bacchus flew up on his hands while tackling her to the ground with his feet. He then stood up once more and got a nasty grip on the woman's throat.

"I thought it was over, but you hardly scratched me." He grinned down at the woman beneath him.

"I feel inclined to disagree." Kagura poked him with the handle of her weapon, making Bacchus fall to his side. The victory was now assured.

"Kagure Mikazuchi won this match for Mermaid Heel!"

"It was an extremely fast-paced battle, one I most definitely enjoyed." Yajima included his opinion in the announcement.

"A splendid match to start the afternoon indeed. I hope the next ones will bode a matching amount of tension. Now here's a matchup a lot of people voted for. Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail A against Sabertooth's Rufus! They already fought during the first event of the games, and Rufus has a score to settle with Gray." The two mages enter the battlefield, Rufus with a glare, Gray with a smile.

"So, we meet again. I'll make sure not to embarass myself this time."

"Do as you will, won't stop me from humiliating you once more." Rufus got ticked off by his comment.

"This battle promises to be fought with a bit more distance between the combatants. Both of them are using molding magic. Even though Rufus' magic might seem stronger, it's limited to the magic that he's already seen himself. In contradiction to that, Gray's magic is only limited to his own creativity." The battle begun with an ice saucer flying Rufus' way.

"Memory Make: Lightning eruption of the crumbling earth!" A lane in the earth was drawn from Rufus towards Gray. The ground crumbled, followed by lightning surging upwards. Not only did it destroy the flying saucer, it also managed to strike Gray. The lightning of course had a numbing effect on the ice mage's body.

"And the first succesful move goes to Rufus! A very powerful counterattack it was."

"Ice Make: Frozen maze of the insolent!" A technique Gray had developed during his fight with Natsu on Tenrou island. Pillars and walls from ice rose from the ground, creating a maze on the spot. Rufus decided to go along with the idea, and moved forward. While running, his eyes detected a shift in his surroundings. He stopped just before the walls before him crushed into each other.

'Interesting, I'll have to remember this.' Looking to his left, he noticed the image of Gray. He expected some sort of trap, but went along with it regardless. Charging ahead, the walls deployed ice saucers, slicing towards Rufus. He dodged them with ease, before nearly being pinned by ice spikes. He made contact with Gray's ice clone. When it crumbled, Rufus laughed to himself for a bit.

"I've got enough of your game, Gray. Memory Make: Starfall!" The sun was traded for the moon. The stars slided down the sky onto the battlefield, crushing every wall of Gray's maze there was. Gray himself was left exposed in the middle of it.

"Let's fool around with one another no more."

"You've got places to be?" Gray asked mockingly.

"Anyplace that grants me protection against the dreadful sight of your face will do." Rufus snickered before summoning three dark creatures from his own shadow.

"Memory Make: Shadow Anima." These creatures looked extremely agile, and so they ended up being. With a simple motion by Rufus, they charged at Gray.

'Fast, sure. But are they powerful?' Blocking the first attack, Gray was knocked back. Another one kicked him forward towards a third who smashed him down.

"Argh... Powerful, check." Getting to his knees, he noticed the dark bodies charging once more.

"Ice Nova!" Gray planted his palm into the ground, releasing a freezing pulse over the battlefield. It spread over the shadows, freezing them in place. Rufus moved upwards before he could be affected.

"Ice Make: Frozen Puncture Assault!" The ice encasing the shadows floated up to eye-height. Gray melt them into balls and made them spin at a high speed. Suddenly, ice spikes popped out of them, covering the entire surface of the balls. When the spikes were lines up with Rufus, they shot out at him. Gray had just created three primitive gatling guns of ice spikes. It took quite some effort of Rufus to outmenoeuvre the assault.

"Memory Make: Protective wings of the guardian Phoenix." As the name implied, a phoenix was sumoned from Rufus' memory. It spread it's fiery wings to protect the mage against the flurry of ice spikes.

"The battle has been moving back and forth, bouncing in between defensive and offensive molding magic from both mages. They keep countering one another's spells!"

Next to Rufus, a giant spike shot out from the ice surface. He noticed this, and dodged it by a hair. For a very short moment, if only a split second, he saw the reflection of a grinning Gray in the ice pillar. He turned and was met by Gray's ice slicer. Right before Gray finished the fight, he was pushed back by some tremendous force. Rufus was heavily wounded around his stomach, but finished the spell.

"Memory Make: Airspace: Metsu!" An airspace current enveloped around Gray.

"Rufus has access to airspace magic! It is magic that manipulates the opponents' magic pool, can Gray get himself out of this nasty situation or will all of his magic power be drained?" We could see Gray struggling in mid-air. He could not leave, he was stuck in the airspace. He tried grabbing ahold of a small ice pillar, but the current would just follow him. Gray stopped moving, he lost consciousness. Rufus noticed Gray was out, and fell to the ground with a grin.

"Both of them are out! Is this a tie? Is this our first tie? Rufus was conscious for only few seconds longer than Gray, does he earn the victory for Sabertooth or not?" After some discussing, it was announced that the battle resulted in a tie.

* * *

So yay, they finally got me net during the week! Sorry for no update during the weekend... I kinda don't really have an excuse except that I was working hard on my other story. I wrote a 4K word chapter for it, yuy. Well, I kinda wanted to do all of the battles, including Natsu's. But I figured I really shouldn't leave you guys hanging even longer. Plus, it's decent in size. Alright, well I'm gonna go do something else for now. Thank y'all for reading!


	63. Chapter 63

Yo, been a while. I guess I should be gettin' a chappy out, huh? Then the time has come for me to actually do that. Let's fucking go, people! Also... 350 rev hype! 200 follow/fav hype! These stats keep growing and growing at a rate to which I end up scrolling through the names of people on this site in my mailbox, it's insane. I try to PM most of you too, specifically the ones who follow and fav more than just this story, but also my other story and even me. I have no idea why, but my stories are doing well. I guess I shouldn't stop then, huh? It's a sign for me to keep going, a source of motivation. However, it still saddens me that some stories who do deserve the success or at least some pupularity do not receive any at all. I've always found my own stories(out of the 2 I currently have made at least -.-) kickstarting into high heavens. So that is why I also intend to present a couple of those underrated stories to my audience. I got 2 to share with y'all:

Rosy Fire's and Queen Flower's 'Wishing for a Better Tomorrow'. Rosy has actually become a good friend of mine on this site. This story is a colab between the two authors, they know one another IRL. It's a NatsuXOC story. I don't want to tell you too much about the story itself, since it's still getting it's steam pumping and it's gears shiftin'. What I can tell you, though, is that I at least find it to be a unique start to something that I have not seen before. I have great expectations from the two of them! The story updates quite frequently, more frequent than I do right now, so that's definitely a plus!

DejaLawsfordBirthdayDragneel(Long name, have to agree.) with "I Will Find Out", another NatsuXOC(Cut me some slack, I love these.). It also, much like the one above, does not have much content yet. However, that does not stop me from admiring what has already been done with the few that's there.

Alright, so after filling half a page with AN, it's about time to start with the actual chapter. Over to Natsu's fight with some additional I-don't-frickin'-know-what-the-hell-this-will-be attached to it.

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"Sabertooth and Fairy Tail A both receive 5 points for their prestations! It was an extremely enjoyable fight for the crowd, wouldn't you say, Yajima?"

"Most definitely. Two molding mages allowed for quite a spectacle with their unusual spells. So, Chapachi, who will be the next combatants?" Chapachi returned his eyes to the lacrima camera before him.

"Next up we got a very desired fighter, we all know who it is by now. Natsu Dragneel, enter the stage!" The crowd erupted with cheers just as Natsu erupted with excitement upon entering the arena. He let loose the lightning flame, making it surge around his body towards the sky.

"Now, his opponent will be... Ah, I remember. There was quite the excitement for this matchup. He will be facing Blue Pegasus' Eve!" The fangirls in the stage obviously roared out by the name of one of the trimen.

"Snow and Fire, this is looking like a splendid combination of elements thrown together to create a lot of water." Yajima looked down at the grinning Natsu, releasing fire and electricity. Then he turned towards the smiling Eve, chilling the area around him.

"Can I call her... nee-sama?" Eve pointed towards Mirajane at the balcony.

"Spark, can I give this guy a beating already?" Natsu scowled between his gritting teeth.

'You know I'm not supposed to give you full power, but to hell with it! Pound into him!'

"Heh, we'll tell them all he had it coming." It was more fun to at least be able to let loose once, right?

'Right you are, now let's go!' With a zap, Natsu disappeared from sight. Eyes shifted over the arena, looking for Natsu's next move. Eve felt the ground beneath him heat up. Sighing, he piled up a good amount of snow, protecting him from the eruption of fire and lightning. When they were high up in the sky, the eruption focused in one point to create Natsu's Lightning Flame body. The crowd didn't know what they were seeing, hence it was the first time Natsu had shown them this kind of power.

"What is this? This is the first time we're seeing this kind of power from Natsu. He had even more power hidding from us all along? I definitely wouldn't want to mess with someone looking like that." The yellow dashes of electricity adding to the crimson flames that made his body sure looked menacing, as they also shaped his death-staring eyes full of energy. The Dragon Slayer charged downwards at his opponent. Eve had the time to jump out of the way and create a snow dragon where he was. The dragon rose skywards. Natsu charged right into his mouthhole. In the middle of the dragon's body was en eruption of fire and lightning. The body was split in half and Natsu came out charging downwards once more.

Eve stared at the incoming lightning fire. He gathered snow from his left and his right to create a defense against Natsu. The hardened snow didn't bother Natsu, as he charged onto the ground beneath the shield and then headbutted Eve into his stomach. Eve was launched upwards, still having Natsu's flaming and shocking body stuck to him. Natsu slammed Eve downwards. While floating in the air, he was charging magical power into both hands. The fire in his right and the lightning in his left. He started brining them together with great speed, just before the Dark Rune carved itself on his stomach. Natsu's lightning and crimson fire got replaced by black flames. And Natsu clapped to send out a nova of black fire. All that came in contact with it isntantly decayed. The ground cracked, the wall crumbled. Eve was barely able to evade the surprise attack.

"And Natsu changed his element WHILE PREPARING FOR AN ATTACK! I don't think I've ever seen someone do something like this!"

"Very impressive indeed, to be able to pull off such an impressive channelling of magic while changing the nature of it." Yajima added to Chapati's excitement. Natsu crashed down in a blast of black flames.

"Isn't that what Natsu looked like at Tenrou island?" Gray asked worried. Erza and a few others nodded their heads.

"It looked alike, yes. But right now he seems to control it more, the darkness is more solid." The group turned to Mirajane, she clenched her hands together in front of her chest.

"Spark, the hell happened?" He cursed.

'It's Grim, he's forcing this all. We're looking for him, but we can't find him!'

"I guess this'll have to do then." Natsu rose up to his feet, staring at Eve. His pitch black body, complimented with those pure white eyes splitting towards the edge of his face.

'No, Natsu, listen to me! Do not.. use... the dark flame right now.' Spark ordered him.

"Why not?"

'We still don't know what he's up to. And who knows what might happen? Don't you recall last time you used it?'

"You have a point, I guess I won't use it then. Tsch, this sucks. Maybe I can bluff my way out." Natsu whispered to himself before slowly stepping towards Eve, who was trembling, with the same menacing look the Dark Flame gave him.

"You either fight me or you concede now. I don't know which you prefer, but I know what a healthy mind would prefer." The message had to sink in first, while Natsu stared him down.

"I won't go down without a fight!" He shouted. Natsu sighed before slamming his fist down once more. He released all the black flames in a pillar upwards, to be revealed as his normal self again.

'What're you gonna do now?' Spark asked him.

"I won't go down without a fight." Natsu grinned.

"And now Natsu has dispelled this form, however we don't know why!"

"Perhaps he's conserving magic energy, he might have wasted a lot with that attack just now." Yajima tried to come up with a valid reason for Natsu's actions.

"Why'd you just do that?" Eve asked, charging up his magic once more.

"I don't have a choice." Natsu didn't move an inch, since charging up his magic was not an option. Spark noticed Natsu dropping all of his magic energy down to nothing.

'Natsu, are you insane? The first hit you take might very well kill you this way!' The fire mage grinned, looking through the blizzard the Eve summoned.

"I guess the fight won't last much longer, give it all you've got!" Eve took at as Natsu bragging about his strength, yet he had also questioned Natsu's recent ations. He took no risks and moved the snow around the two of them. As soon as Natsu twitched a muscle, Eve forced all the snow together in front of him. The snow crashed into one another as if two seas just met. Soon enough, the flow of snow stopped. It only lasted for that bit, but Eve assumed that Natsu's ridiculous speed would be stopped because of it. When the snow wall laid low, he was surprised to see that Natsu had simply been running at him at a normal speed. The Dragon Slayer used this moment of surprise to crash his fist into Eve's face.

"What is this? Natsu surprised us all by not using his magic! A very smart move, I must say. But why did he not use magic to enhance the blow he dealt just now?" Natsu barely stood on his feet, as a mage without magic power shouldn't. Eve jumped up and summoned another huge wave of snow to crash down on Natsu. He was forced to the ground, pummeled by snow. The stream continued keeping him flat on the ground, Natsu would not escape. The snow mage walked over and stopped the stream. Natsu's body was revealed, not much spirit or energy was detected from it.

"Is he out? Has Eve won this?" Chapati's own nerves nearly sprung at the thought of Natsu's defeat. Natsu stretched out his hand and grabbed a hold of Eve's shirt. He pulled himself up until he was at eye-height with Eve. The boy didn't know what to expect, until Natsu headbutted him to the ground. Eve stared up at him with surprise, he should not be standing as he is now. Natsu had small but deep wounds all over him.

"Why are you not using your magic? Are you looking down on me that much? Do you think you're that much better than everyone?" Natsu smiled at him before answering.

"Not by a long shot, it's because I can't. Something... unexpected occurred. You should be happy, it got you the victory."

"Why didn't you just concede? You know it's hopeless without magic."

"Because..." Natsu pulled Eve up from the ground. While standing he still had a grip on his hand. "I can't go down without a fight." Eve sighed.

"You're really stubborn. But I'm happy to have fought such a wonderful opponent." The snow spread from Eve's hand over to Natsu's arm. The fire mage grinned before being encased in the cold matter.

"And that's the win for Blue Pegasuuuuuuuus!" Surprised as they all were, the crowd still cheered for the honorable battle between the two mages. When Natsu managed to crawl his way up to the balcony, he was immediatly interrogated by the guild.

"What the hell happened down there?"

"How the hell could you lose against him?"

"Do you realize what you've done with our image?"

"Are you alright?" Shoving all of them aside, he was met with Mirajane's glare.

"I-uh... I guess I should apologize."

"I don't expect your apology, I expect you to be more careful next time! Why the hell did you throw yourself in an impossible fight? You usually do it anyways, but this time without magic!"

"I couldn't just show us off as weaklings, though I still kind of did... I'm sorry for losing the match." Mirajane pulled his head into her bozem.

"I don't care about the match. I'm just happy you're alright, you could've gotten really hurt down there."

"The only one that can truly hurt me is you. By the way, I prefer not to be suffocated to death." Natsu managed to squeeze out of his lungs before Mirajane finally let him go.

"Natsu Dragneel, you have been summoned!" A royal guard appeared on the balcony.

"Me? Summoned? Uh... can I bring someone along? Or... a few?" Natsu corrected himself after noticing the glares pointed at him.

"That information was not included in my intructions, I am only to bring you to the palace." With that, he quickly pulled him away from the group and dragged him to the castle. Mirajane, Gray, Erza and Wendy followed quickly. Natsu was thrown into a large room and landed face-first on the ground.

"Natsu!" A yell made him look up, but his eyes were quickly covered by the delightful flesh of womanhood once more. When the group entered the room, they saw Hisui cuddling with Natsu. They all smiled, except Mirajane.

"Natsu prefers not to be suffocated to death." Mirajane hissed as she pulled Natsu away from Hisui.

"What she said." He puffed once he caught his breath.

"Sorry, I was just so excited to see you again! I had heard of the return of the most powerful mages of Fairy Tail, and hoped to see you again soon. And so now you're here!" Hisui was being a little overexcited.

"Good to see you too! You've grown a lot, I see." Natsu grinned at her.

"Yeah, Hisui sure did grow up to be a nice princess." Wendy joined the conversation.

"That's queen Hisui, to you." The group went wide-eyed at the sudden announcement.

"What happened to your father?" Gray asked.

"He got a bit older, and he wanted to see the world."

"Ah, I see. So he left you in charge then?" Erza respectfully mentioned.

"Hmh, so now I'm in this position." She nodded.

"That's really cool, so how you handling all that?" Natsu immediatly wondered.

"Actually, I recently got something that bothers me. It's one of the reasons I called you over. But this is something we need to discuss in private. Guards, leave us." The royal guards followed the orders and left them by themselves.

"So, do you need our help with something?" Mirajane asked the emerald-haired woman, coming to business.

"I've got a bad feeling about what's coming in the next few days..."

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So, there we go. Got this chappy up. Give the stories a shot! I'm sure they'd both appreciate the support! Of course, I can't tell you what to do. Thanks for reading, apologies for the later upload!


	64. Chapter 64

Yo, back once more. I actually got a dislike on last chapter, kind of. Sad face, now I'm totally heartbroken and can't write anymore. Don't take this as... anything. Haters are actually quite the problem at times, specifically to those who can't handle them. Not that I got one. After asking the reason behind it, he/she clarified that that's just something that stuck out but that it otherwise still was a great chapter. I've been hearing some stuff from other authors that they really couldn't handle how someone was just trashtalking on their story, luckily I managed to cheer 'em up a bit! Good thing that I only got super cool people reading my story, phew.

(Lucy lovers, look away.) Btw, I've kinda been watching a few eps of Fairy Tail again. Just a few, I don't have too much time on my hands :P All I gotta say is... THAT'S ONE LUCY DOWN, ONTO THE NEXT ONE!

Now, I know I did this kind of stuff in just the previous chapter, but I'd like you all to give this one a look as well.

AveryScarlet's 'A Tale of a Dragon'. ANOTHER NatsuXOC, am I boring you guys already with these? Again, not too much chappahs out yet. The OC is like REALLY promising though. Promising for a good romance story, that is. The girl definitely will give us a slow buid up in the romance, which is what we're looking for, right? It's really all I gotta say about it, it's all in the OC. She's great! She's got an extremely unique personality, the distant kind. Yet not distant in a regular way. Just go check it out yourself already!

Also, recently I've been starting to hand out family hugs to the newer followers. (Yes, I'm still considering us all a happy family, deal with it!) But my older readers never got the chance. So for this one occasion, with all of us... FAMILY HUG! *Gets crushed by 200 people*

* * *

"What about it? Do you think something's gonna happen?" The group could feel Hisui getting uneasy about this.

"I can't say for sure, because my source is not reliable. But we might soon be facing a crisis, one on a very large scale. I'm not sure if I can protect the city from it." Hisui looked at her own lap, feeling very uncertain about all of this. She looked up once more once she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to see Gray's smile. When she shifted her eyes away, she noticed Erza's approving smile, as well as Mirajane's tilted head with her usual smile and Natsu's toothy grin with his flaming thumbs up. Wendy's innocent appearance ended the series of assuring smiles.

"You don't need to protect it, not alone. I'm sure that there's nothing we can't face when we're a team." It was surprising to hear that from Gray, but you could see that every single one of the other mages in the room backed his words up.

"You know, I forgot how you guys handled this kind of stuff. Rather than dropping the weight, just put more support under it." Natsu's grin grew wider with that statement.

"Saves us the effort of bringing something back that was destroyed because we didn't do that." Mirajane gave a nod in agreeance.

"It would be a terrible waste of time, indeed." Erza confirmed.

"I guess I can count on you guys then. Again, I don't know how reliable this information is, but I just want you all to be prepared." They all nodded.

"Don't worry, we'll take it head-on. But, let's leave this subject be for now. Can we go back to the happy reunion?" Natsu asked.

"Oh, I think your reunion was pleasurable enough, wouldn't you say?" Mirajane's demonic voice asked him.

"Not as pleasurable as you could make it." He spoke as he pecked her cheek with a small kiss. Her anger immediatly left her body, leaving the white-haired female with just her blush. Hisui giggled at the scene.

"You two have been together for far too long."

"WE HAVE NOT!" They yelled in unison.

"It's true that they were seperated for seven years." Erza stated.

"I guess you gotta give them that." Gray sighed in annyance.

"That's right, I don't know what really happened to you all during those years." Wendy was the one to step forward and enlighten Hisui on the matter. Few words were added by Natsu and Mirajane about their own situation.

"So, you were frozen in this Fairy Sphere. Natsu was as well, physically, but was mentally awake during the entirety of those seven years. Mirajane was out of range of the spell, so she made it back to the guild with Makarov and kept it afloat... That's a nasty situation you've all been through."

"Sure it was, but that's in the past now. We've returned!" Natsu yelled. Hisui looked up with a smile once more.

"You're right! So, Natsu, why is it that you're the only one that seems older?"

"Eh, long story. Has to do with my magic and some ... unfortunate events." Natsu coughed those last words up.

"You can say that again." Gray commented.

"Oh, well at least you're all fine now. Hey, let me show you guys around! A lot has changed since the last time you were all were." And within only about an hour, they were standing atop of the balcony.

"And this... is ... well... Crocus." It was a beautiful sight, we could all agree on that.

"You're right, a lot HAS changed over the years." Erza gazed upon the magnificent city.

"Hey, that's the plaza where the guards started chasing after us!" Natsu pointed at the big central plaza.

"You're right, and that over there is where we made our 'Great Escape'." The queen pointed at an abandoned alley.

"Haha, yeah. Natsu and I sure gave them something to bite on while we were getting out of there. Good times." Gray shared his memory.

"Tomorrow will be the third game of the GMG. Natsu, you'll be doing the event, right?" The fire mage nodded.

"I'll be cheering for you! I mean, for all of you, of course." She let out a nervous giggle.

"Thanks, I'll do my best!" Natsu replies, focusing on the message she was trying to send rather than her blunder.

"We all will." Erza added on top of that.

"You just make sure nothing goes wrong while we're at it!" Gray raised his fist.

"I guess it's time for us to leave then. It was really good to see you again, Hisui." Mirajane announced their department.

"Thank you for having us!" Wendy politely thanked her with a quick bow.

"I loved it, too! I hope we'll meet up again after the games, at least." She yelled at them before they left the room.

"Count on it!" Natsu answered before his head disappeared behind the large set of double doors. The group was now slowly making their way to their residence.

"She changed a lot, yet she's still so much the same." Natsu started once they were about halfway there.

"Right you are, she hasn't changed one bit if you disregard her appearance. Longer hair, longer body. That's all I can tell you that's changed." Gray agreed with Natsu's statement.

"Imagine her having become this stern old lady queen that doesn't know anything about fun." Natsu envisioned Hisui the way he described.

"Not happening in a million years." The girls were chuckling at the boy's random speculations.

"Natsu, I wanna ask you something." Mirajane grinned with closed eyes.

"Huh?"

"Do you think I've forgotten about the whole incident in the arena?" The menacing aura seemed to pressure Natsu and even had an impact on Gray.

"E-Eh, of course not."

"Good, because you're gonna tell me everything about it tonight." She returned her gaze forwards once more and kept walking with the rest of the girls.

"She is stronger than me and all, but why are you scared of her?" Gray whispered to Natsu.

"What do you suggest I do? Beat her up? I'd rather die, which might not be so unlikely to happen." Natsu quietly yelled at his friend.

"Well you ca-OW!" The two bumped into Erza's steel back.

"We're here. Everybody to THEIR OWN rooms!" She ordered, as she always does. Natsu was on his bed with Mirajane and just told her IN DETAIL what had happened that day.

"And... can you talk to him or something?" Mirajane tried thinking towards an answer.

"That's what I'm gonna find out tonight."

"Right, I suppose I shouldn't be tinkering about it too much and let you handle it. You know you can't sit tomorrow out, so try to spend your time up there wisely." And with that, she kissed the Dragon Slayer goodnight.

"Guys, do we have anything on Grim?"

"We've been covering this entire place but there's no trace of him." Violet spoke up.

"Yeah, no idea how the hell he keeps himself hidden so well. He should be pretty easy to find around here." Spark backed Violet up.

"Damn it, I thought you guys might've gotten to him already." Natsu looked down, tinkering.

"S-Sorry..." Violet shook slightly.

"Huh? What for? I wasn't blaming you. I know you guys tried your best, that's all that counts.

"Right, but we still failed."

"Irrelevant." The choice of words showed that Natsu was pretty serious about that. Nothing relaxed, dead serious he was.

"You can't expect to do stuff that isn't within your abilities. If you tried your best, you did all you could. I can't expect you to do more than that."

"Hmpf, well said." Igneel sighed.

"Whaddaya know, big bro's awake too." Blaze smirked at the giant dragon.

"You're never gonna stop doing that, are you?" Violet asked the fire mage.

"Do what?"

"Being so amazing, god damn Mira for getting so lucky." She cursed.

"Jalous much?" Spark teased, recieving a quick jab to his stomach, knocking him out cold.

"Anyways. I think it might just be because you guys simply can't wander as far as you thought you could. There's probably a limit or something. Maybe I should go look for him myself." Natsu thought aloud.

"What?! You can't be serious! What if you lose yourself again or something!" Violet immediatly countered his train of thought, bringing it to a stop.

"I guess, but I think it's the right call."

"You're not going alone!" She yelled.

"I agree with Violet on that one, who knows what might happen to you." Blue mentioned his opinion for once.

"I'll go with him." The large dragon stood on his feet.

"Huh?" Of course, most were surprised.

"I'm not a flame spirit, so I should have just as much freedom around here as Natsu himself." He explained as he walked past the bunch.

"So, you coming or not?"

* * *

And there we have it. I apologize for not updating so frequent. I've been tinkering about it, and I do still write 4K+ words a week. I'm writing 2K+ chappies for BOTH stories a week. So that's still about average writing, right? I definitely don't wanna go lower than that, but it's not the absolute worst either... I guess. Been rereading a very slight amount while looking up what the hell I did in the past episode. I realize that I do get some typos in that eventually turn into entirely different words. You guys gotta know, I don't reread my chapters before publishing them... probably should do that :P


	65. Chapter 65

Hey, folks. I suppose I've returned once more. I hope I won't have to go through the same horror for this chapter as the other one. My last chapter for my other story had to be written 3 times over for me to finally get it saved without my computer crashing. I then got into the habit of saving regularly throughout writing. I wonder how many people actually have a good social life outside of the digital world, because I sure as hell don't. My parents put me in this boarding school, and it's utter shit. I get the feeling that we, online 'anti-social' fucks are the real pals. At least friends mean something to my online pals, while the guys down here don't care. I'm telling ya, real life people live a delusional life. I fucking hate it. Maybe I'm just pissed off because of something and all the small things added up on that. Whatever, let's not keep discussing my minor depression. So, to start the real action, I believe I'm skipping straight into the morning. You'll get a hint of what happened later on in the chapter during some scenes. So, I guess I better try to get this done.

* * *

When Mirajane awoke, Natsu was sweating heavily besides her. She saw a pressured look on his face, and did not hesitate to wake him.

"Natsu! Natsu!" By shaking his body, the Dragon Slayer was quickly brought back to consciousness.

"Hmmm, morning already?" She smiled intently at the usual silliness of the absurd man.

"Yeah, it is. You looked kind of troublesome, so I woke you. Did something bad happen?"

"Nah, it was just an eerie place, that's all." She sighed as Mirajane was relieved to hear nothing bad came from his bad dream.

"If all is well, then we should be getting ready. I hope you've got enough energy for your event, after all, it is your turn." She poked his stomach while ordering him around, forcing him to react.

"Don't you worry about me, I'll be fine. You oughta be worrying about yourself." He smirked.

"Why's tha-woah!" Natsu slid her down underneath him by her foot and held her still with a firm grip.

"Because you might not get out of here with a clean nightgown."

"Oh, wouldn't that just be... unfortunate." She smiled deviously while pulling him in for a kiss. The passionate exchange of saliva continued until loud knocking was heard from the door.

"We know you two are probably doing something perverted, so we're just here to tell you TO GET THE FUCK DOWN!" Judging by the way of speaking, it was probably Gray. While Natsu was listening, Mirajane took this oppertunity to escape from her flesh prison. She fled to the edge of the bed, away from the door, and made her way out. Natsu caught on quickly and leapt after her. She laughed loudly when Natsu's face hit the ground and she ran past him to the door. Natsu got up quickly and charged straight at her. The silver-haired woman's smile was the first thing Gray and Erza saw once she opened the door.

"We'll be right o-" She was silenced by Natsu's body crashing into her own. After realizing what position they were in, the two mages left them to sort it out themselves. However, all it resulted in was more lovey-dovey time for Natsu and Mirajane.

"Natsu... We really oughta get going now."

"Sigh, I suppose you're right." He slowly got up from her, last thing touching her being his lips. He sucked on her skin until the very last second, leaving a slight mark on her neck.

"Ugh, you always gotta make it obvious to everyone around us, don't you?" She looked away, pretending to be displeased. Her only answer from him, was a grin that told her that he would never stop. It comforted her, though she did not want to admit it.

"I'll say it once more, we really oughta get going."

"Yeah, yeah. But you cover yourself first." She looked down, seeing how a huge chunk of her body was exposed. She quickly covered it up as she did not want to get him 'overexcited'. After pulling an outfit from her closet, which she refused to share with Natsu, she got dressed rather quickly. Natsu moved over to the chair that was supporting his set of clothing, pulling the shorts up from the ground. Mirajane was disappointed when he slid his shirt over his abdomen. She had forced him herself to wear it, for she did not want such a huge crowd to get a good look at him that way. But she did regret not getting to see him herself like that.

When she finally managed to close her bra and pull on the dress she had chosen, Mirajane turned towards the mirror for her hair. Natsu was standing behind her, in the mirror. She smiled as the pink-haired mage started playing with her silver hair. For the fun of it, she decided to let him do it. The result was rather hilarious, however. They both laughed at Mirajane's silver locks, strangling each other thanks to Natsu's rough hands.

"I suppose it was a mistake to let you go that far."

"As long as you're there to fix them, I don't mind making mistakes." She sighed, that only meant he wouldn't learn anything from the mistakes he'd make.

"You can't keep saying that, I won't always be there to fix them."

"When the hell would that be?" That is a question she could not answer quickly.

"When I... Uh... When I am... at a photoshoot!"

"I'm with you on those."

"Ehm... When, I sometimes... When I go shopping."

"We do that together."

"Well uhm, maybe when I... am doing an intereview!"

"I have a contract with Sorcerer's Weekly saying that they're not allowed to broadcast any of your features without me alongside of you." She shouted in frustration.

"When I'm stuck for seven years in a bubble."

"But, I APOLOGIZED!" She smiled triumphantically as he moved away from her, to the door.

"We'll be right down!" He yelled at his fellow guild mates.

"C'mon, time to go." Mirajane whispered in his ears. He turned to face her. Before he could see her, she placed her smooth and gentle hand over his eyes and pecked his lips. Mirajane then quickly ran past him. When he found the end of the hallway with his eyes, he caught a glimpse of Mirajane's beautiful, waving hair and her gentle motion topped off with the summer dress. She disappeared quickly down the stairs, and he followed suit.

"There y'are, you comin'?" Natsu was surprised to see that the Fairy Tail team was about ready to leave. He smiled before snatching his lunch and chasing them out.

"Third day, eh? How you two keeping up? Must be tough, having to perform each and every day." Gajeel asked them, surprisingly.

"Oh, uh, we're doing fine. We manage, you know. We knew it wouldn't be easy, signing up with just the two of us, but that's exactly why we did it." Natsu smiled confidently at his partner.

"So all you wanted was a challenge?" Freed found it a rather weird motive.

"No, of course not. There's more to it than just that, and we'll get it once we win the games!" Mirajane joyfully stated.

"You'll have to get past us first, we won't let you take us down that easily." Erza still held a grudge against Mirajane for toying with her that first day.

"We wouldn't want to have it any other way." They both smirked deviously at their fellow guild members.

Natsu felt pain clutch around his stomach. He realized what caused this, and so he tried to ignore it. It burned, yet he couldn't let it out. He did not want to cause Mirajane or anyone to worry about him. He still felt the presence of Igneel, so he knew he wasn't in any immediatle danger.

'Why, haven't you been wandering off just a bit too much?' A rather sadistic voice whispered in his head.

'So, you came out to play, huh?' Natsu thought to him, he knew exactly who it was.

'I might have, I might not have. I assume you desperately want to know what I am seeking?'

'Well, yeah. After all, you HAVE fucked me over.' Grim's amused laughter echoed through Natsu's mind.

'I suppose one might say that. I hope you don't hold any grudge against me, I was merely having fun.'

'If you don't get to do anything, how is it fun? If we come to an agreement, I could use your power and you'd actually get to do stuff.'

'Meh, that would be the boring way to go about it. Maybe later, see ya!' As soon as he appeared, he vanished. Natsu found it rather awkward, but decided to leave it for now. He was sure that it wouldn't be the same, this time around. Because now, he had a backup plan.

"Natsu, you with us?" Mirajane waved in front of his eyes.

"Huh, oh, what? Sorry, I was lost in thought."

"You gotta keep your head clear. You've got some games to win, don'tcha?" Gray gave him a supportive smile.

"Right you are, and the same goes for you." Natsu gave him a thumbs up.

"Hey look, it's the Fairy Tail group!" They heard a couple merchants from the nearby plaza yell.

"OMG!" *A wilde horde of crazy fangirls appeared* (Classic)

"Gray, I love the way your ice reflects your bare-chested body like it is heaven itself."

"Freed, your elegant appearance is unmatched by any I've ever seen."

"Natsuuuuu, get the games over with so you have some time for a woman in your life already!"

"Oh crap, we gotta run." Natsu pulled Mirajane's hand, yet he almost tripped when she wouldn't budge. He turned to see that a guy was holding her hand and kneeling before her.

"Mirajane. The name itself only fills my thoughts with images of that curvacious body, the purest of white in the waving hair, the most radiant of sapphires." He was pinned to the ground by the red-eyes, blazing demon that we all know Natsu could become.

"Natsu, don't be like that." Mirajane cupped his cheek, immediatly letting all the anger flowing out of him." All the girls around them let out a disappointing sigh, seeing how the woman was so important to him.

"Sorry, I got a bit carried away." He chuckled nervously.

"We'll see all of you at the games, make sure you'll be there!" Gray shouted behind him as they continued their way down the road. The loud cheers confirmed as much.

"I never thought that'd be an issue." Natsu shared his concern with the others.

"We also never thought we'd compete amongst other guilds for the title of strongest guild." Freed countered with his own statement.

"Of course we didn't, I thought it was obvious that we were the strongest." Natsu overconfidence was of course a source of laughter for most.

"There's always someone out there that's stronger than you." Gray speaks, something that people should live by.

"Then I'll find that person, and I'll beat him." Natsu dreamed of having to face the king of the water dragons.

"Sure you will, but keep it with the games for now."

"Then stop giving me subjects to think about!" Natsu yells at his friends. The fire mage looked to his left, responding to Mirajane's two fingers walking on his right shoulder.

"You're so easily distracted." She whispered in his left ear. Luckily, Natsu was walking in the utter left position. None of them could see what Mirajane was doing to him. She breathed upon Natsu's skin, turning him on slightly. He was afraid of what she'd do next. Natsu knew she had to be stopped, but he didn't want to. Until he suddenly felt her lick his ear, he almost drowned in arousal.

"MIRAJANE, NOT IN THE OPEN!" He quietly yelled at her. Her sadistic grin only silenced him as she licked her fingers. Without mentioning anyting else, they continued walking. Natsu knew how dangerous it was to oppose Mirajane when she was in that kind of mood, her first battle in the games was enough proof of that.

"Finally, I thought we'd never make it!" They stood before the GMG's arena. The guards quickly motioned them to enter.

"Hurry, the games are about to start!" They scuffled inside hastily, moving to where they were supposed to be. For Mirajane, that was the balcony. For Natsu, that was the arena. For Fairy Tail A, that was their team's designated quarters.

"Welcome everybody to the third day of the GRAAAND MAGIIIIIC GAAAAAMES!" Chapati's welcoming voice echoed throughout Natsu's mind, it nearly gave him a headache.

'That guy should stop shouting like that, I think the lacrima's gonna break.' He chuckled.

"Today's event will be a special one, as it won't be just one person participating. Who will take place in this event will be chosen at random!" A magic circle appeared beneath Mirajane, Gajeel, Rogue, Ichiya, Lyon, Araña and Warcry were transported high above the arena. Natsu looked up and noticed Mirajane being trapped inside of something.

"The hell? I thought it was just gonna be me, what's going on here?"

"Everybody BESIDES the people who were just mentioned is going to participate in the event. The goal is to free your trapped teammate and get out while keeping the other teams from doing so. Can you free your partner, or will you leave them trapped for the whole event?"

"They can't be serious. They can't do that!" Natsu started raging.

"MOVE!"

* * *

In the end, I just wrote another chapter with NaMi moments and nothing else. So much for the action, nice one 'Tomek. I don't know, people. It seems I was just in the mood for this kind of stuff. At least the ship lovers will like this one, I suppose that's something :P But it doesn't hurt, right? Having something like this every once in a while. Though I have been lacking some action over the last few chapters. But I promise that will DRASTICALLY change soon!


	66. Chapter 66

So, I'll actually start giving you guys the event planned and some stuff. I don't know how exactly this is gonna work out, but I'm hoping for the best. The real difficulty for me will be to mainting what I'm about to start and not rush through it. Stick with me, people! I'll do my best.

* * *

"The hell's going on?" Natsu cursed, staring at Mirajane's tied up body.

"For this event, one mage per team was chosen at random to be held hostage. Through a magically contructed copy of Crokus, filled with traps of all kinds, you will move to free your comrade and eliminate the opposing teams while doing so. If you manage to exit the area with all of your team members, you gain 5 points. On top of the 5 points, there will be a time bonus. You start out with 10 bonus time points, these will decay with every 4 minutes.. 1 addition point is gained per takedown. Of course, while the exception of Fairy Tail B is still going on, they're at an advantage because they don't have to move with so much to get the maximum points while they also don't have as much fighting power just because of their small group. It doesn't take much to put Natsu down, at least not when you've got your entire team backing you up, and I'm sure some people are looking to do just that." The explenation of this current event came from Chapati once more, it was proving to be one of the more interesting ones as well.

"Now, to free your team member, you'll have to find them first. Doing so is going to prove rather difficult, as they will keep moving throughout the stage. When you find them, make sure to get to them as quickly as possible. When you do, there should be a rune before them. When you get in contact with it, it will start draining your magic power. Once it has drained enough, it will release the magic-supressing strain on your captured partner. Keep in mind that if you lose contact with the stone while the process is not yet complete, there will be a forced relocate. However, as long as you keep contact with it, it should not perform a random relocation." Natsu clenched his fist as he watched Mirajane and the other hostages vanish from sight. Not long did it take before he himself was transferred to the event stage. The Dragon Slayer was all on himself, for Mirajane was not with him.

At the other starting points, every team had already started moving. The goal, of course, was to find your teammate as quickly as possible.

"So, how do we even find her?" Sting asks his team. Minerva was the one taken away for Sabertooth. That left Sting with Rogue, Orga and Rufus.

"I don't have any memories of this kind of event."

"Don't you Dragon Slayers have some enhanced sense of smell and hearing?" Orga recalled something about the two Twin Dragons.

"Yeah, but with her switched location that much, it's very unreliable." Rogue argued.

"Whatever, it's something and it's all we got right now." Orga made sure they wouldn't waste too much time discussing what to do. And so they spurted off towards the smell of Minerva.

Team Blue Pegasus had lost Jenny, leaving the Trimen and Ichiya over to their overdose of 'manliness'.

"MEN! We cannot leave a harmless woman in such a pitiful situation for ANY LONGER!"

"Hai, Ichiya-sensei!" The triman complied rather quickly.

"To do this in the most efficient manner, we should split up. I will follow her parfum, Hibiki, you make sure to keep contact with us and stay hidden somewhere. I don't know what you can find out about this place, but do it!" The gruop nodded and went their own way. It was quickly decided who would be the losing team, it seems...

Lamia Scale was off in the Northern area of the city.

"They took my Lyon! We have to get him out of there as soon as possible!" Sherry cried over her 'lost love'.

"Don't overreact, we won't get him back that way. We need to be smart about this. I say we split up into 2 teams. Toby, can you do some smelling?" Toby raises his head, sniffing in the air as he goes.

"I got him, but I don't think he'll stay there for long."

"Sherry, stick with Toby and find Lyon. Yuka, you're staying with me. We're gonna make sure to round up some of the competition. Whenever you two found him, I want you to tap the ground three times in quick succession." The group nodded and split up. Sherry and Toby running off towards the East, while Yuka and Jura started moving towards the center.

Quatro Cerberus had a starting point that was only slightly off from Natsu's. They were off to the South, slowly making their way to the center as well.

"Say, why are we going this way again? I don't think meeting up with other guys in the middle sounds like a good idea."

"What, are you scared?" Don't tell me that dragon kid's gotten into your head. He lost his last battle, he's not as big of a threat as we thought he was!" Rocker convinced his teammate.

"Yeah, dragon kid's got nothing on us!" The sound of a crack widening caught their attention. Slowly watching it spread over the wall, one of them walked over to it. Upon peeking through the crack, Warcry started screaming. Only a split second after, the wall was launched out of it's place, on top of them. The rubble came flying at the group, the alley filling with screams of fear.

Natsu was getting slightly agitated with this whole setup.

"Ugh, these guys are probably just all gonna group up and stick to one another. If they gang up on me, that's gonna prove rather difficult..." He muttered to himself.

"Say, Natsu, in that case, how about we make it a bit more... balanced?" The 'Balanced' part slid off Violet's tongue as if it was venom. Natsu's ears took it as candy, however.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, no restrictions, no hold-up, you get free game." Natsu's eyes widened.

"Seriously?" He could hear a slight hum of confirmation.

"ALRIGHT! So, who's coming out to play?"

"I wouldn't mi-"

"I wanna." Violet was interrupted by Blue's deep voice.

"Oh, would ya look at that. Grumpy's no longer satisfied with his passive attitude." Blaze is gonna get himself killed that way, on day.

"The real reason would be that I've spent too much time with you and Sparkhead over there that my head hurts. I feel like wrecking some people's day." The Blue giant spat at Blaze.

"Ho, that's unlike you. But sure, you haven't gotten any attention during the games yet." Natsu could picture Violet's smile and her 'Go right ahead' stance before Blue.

"Moete kita zo..." He grinned as the blue flames consumed him. (For all of you that don't know yet, it's Natsu's trademark. "I'm all fired up".) The first thing he did, being in full control once more, was to completely erupt at a nearby surface. The wall to his left was bombarded with a barrage of ice and cold fire. Natsu stopped when he heard a couple of cried. Peeking through the hole, he saw the Quatro Cerberus group. Having found his victims, a sinister grin escaped his lips.

Over to Fairy Tail A, in the West.

"Damn it, Freed. Y'almost done already?" Gray was getting agitated over not being able to do anything yet.

"I told you, this takes time. I've only just learned how to do it. You think spreading runes over an area without physically writing them down is easy? You're lucky if you can draw a line that way, let alone write runes." He hissed at him from his cross-legged position, bent over the line of runes. He was focusing very hard on spreading the cryptic text out over the entire area. He had tried to practise on this ability for the games, because he knew he wouldn't get the time to set up before the event started. Setting up is so vital to rune mages, he could hardly do without. That is why he came up with this.

"Don't beat him up, it's something that no other rune mage has done before. It's a very useful skill to have, and Freed's proven himself a very good mage because of that. You're not just gonna invent some new way to use your magic like that. I wanna see you do that, Gray." Erza defended Freed.

"Pff, I do it all the time." He cockily commented.

"Molding magic is nowhere near what he's doing and you know it. Now quit blabbering, you're disrupting Freed's concentration." Laxus shut the ice mage up.

"It's done! I can see the entire area. Gajeel's stuck somewhere in the North. And Natsu's already beating up a group."

"WHAT? That little flame-breathing, punk-ass, imitating, hot-headed pile of ash!"

"What're you gonna do about it, Gray? You gonna stand there and curse at him, or are you gonna catch up to him?" Erza stared him down with a stern look.

"Let's just go..." He gave in and ran off with his team.

"Freed, where do we find them? We can't let Natsu have all the fun." Freed nodded as he pointed towards the way they were headed.

"The majority of them are moving towards the center. Though there are few who seem to have split up in search for their team member."

"Natsu has started ravaging the place already! What has given him this sudden surge in power, to think last battle was a complete disaster for him!"

"I knew there was way more to the boy than just that, did you not?" Yajima smiled at Chapati.

The crowd gazed at the lacrima screen, showcasing Natsu's creative use of his ice powers. He wasn't just beating them up, he was toying with them.

"Natsu, we've played enough with them." Blue looked down on the Quatro Cerberus members, who were still getting it.

"But it feels great to be letting loose!" Natsu smiles as a barrage of ice spikes was launched from the cold flames the surged through the alley.

"Shouldn't we be rescueing Mirajane?" Natsu freezes in place. He took a moment to turn around and gaze towards the center of the city. Looking down, his face covered in shadows, he left the alley for where he felt Mirajane's presence.

"Quatro Cerberus' entire team was utterly destroyed by Natsu's rampage. Fairy Tail B gains 5 points!" The scoreboard adds 5 poinst to Fairy Tail B's score.

"So, how long are we gonna be wandering this place without a real goal?" Yuka complained.

"Quiet, I think we've got company." Jura put his hand on the ground, attempting to sense the presence of his enemies. Erza dove through the building they were standing next to, immediatly launched an attack at Jura.

"Ah, Erza. A tough first opponent." The earth mage grinned at the sight of a challenge.

"Silence, we've no time to waste on you!" She spat while lunging forward with her sword pointing at him. While launching a horizontal strike, Jura rose his defense to his right. In mid-air, Erza spun around, switching targets to Yuka. When she got out of the way, Gray, who was high up in the air, had a clear shot on him with his ice cannon. Simultaniously, Erza cut Yuka and Gray shot Jura. The Wizard Saint managed to stretch the defense on his right out to block the shot and strike Erza off-balance.

"How exciting! A perfectly coördinated tag-team move on Fairy Tail A's end, but Jura's control of his magic managed to turn it around after all!"

"You're not gonna make this easy, are you?" Gray muttered at the tip of his tongue, as if he was trying to show them the irritation in his words.

"Is that even an honest question?" Yuka replied.

"It is if I want it to be!" Gray shouted while contructing an ice surfact, spreading out towards them. Erza rushed forwards, sliding over the ice to gain momentum. Jura prepared for the impact, but once more, Erza switched targets. The ice path circled around Jura, towards Yuka. The eart mage launched Yuka upwards, as he then spun around to fire a barrage of his energy blasts. Jura held them in place while they were receiving the full effect of Yuka's effect.

"And the first hit goes to Lamia Scale! Fairy Tail keeps deceiving them, but they've started to adapt already. A beautiful turn-around once more."

As Yuka lands, Erza and Gray are released from the earth prison. Puffing, they drop to the ground.

"Requip: Purgatory armor!" Erza announced her transformation, a bright light blinding everyone that it came in contact with. The heavy mace she wielded was brought to the ground with heavy force.

"So you finally decided to take this seriously?" Jura smiled. Erza charged once more. Jura built up his defense to adapt to anything she might pull. Much to his surprise, Erza's mace swung right through his defense and sweapt him aside. Jura's body came crushing in Yuka, sending them both flying until they met a wall. The little mage was crushed between a hard surface and an old man, such a terrible way to suffer. Jura stood up once more and forged a rock armor. With the ability to control those rocks, it also granted him speed and strength. With that, it was his time to charge. He rushed towards Erza.

"Dark Écriture: Destruction!" Out of the sky, Freed came dashing down on top of Jura. With a swift strike and a massive release of dark magic, Jura's armor broke and he was knocked backwards. He was now puffing heavily. As soon as he stopped sliding, Gray froze him in place. A lightning bolt rushed over to yuka. Laxus grabbed him by the neck and lifted him from the ground. With a quick and sudden jolt of electricity, he lost consciousness. Erza stood before Jura. She gave him a stern glare before bringing unconsciousness down upon him by the means of her heavy mace.

"What took you guys so long?"

"We got... distracted." Freed showed them the Blue Pegasus group.

"They were all split up." Laxus added, leaving Erza sighing.

"Guys, something's here, and it's not an enemy." Gray sensed. Freed guided them over to the presence.

"Look who it is." The group jumped slightly at the sight of a prisoned Mirajane. Walking over to her slowly, they froze at the sound of their death sentence.

"DON'T. TOUCH. HER!"

* * *

Apologies if the last part was a bit sloppier, I've been feeling really really down today. I wanted to write a bit more, but I'm just out. I don't want to go on anymore. I hope it was still a nice read, I'll be sure to pick myself up soon. Thank you guys for reading!


	67. Chapter 67

And so I'm back! Apologies for not uploading immediately, It's because I got a replacement for my computer, and that one couldn't really... write... for some reason. Don't ask me why, it's not like I'm helpless on that kind of stuff. So, I got my computer back and it is fixed! Well, I don't have an Nvidia GPU anymore and am sitting with my integrated one -.- But it works, I suppose. It'll have to suffice for now. So, after leaving you guys hanging for so long, I suppose I should be getting started on this. Hope y'all will enjoy!

* * *

The group of mages turned to see Natsu's enraged face. Slowly, his body was making his way over to them. He was puffing all the way, on one knew why. It's as if someone were about to move an inch, he'd jump them and tear them apart. His magic aura was very cold, as if he didn't care that his friends were standing before him. Mirajane seemed to be muttering something, but the barrier blocked all sound.

"What is this? Natsu seems about ready to kill, and his own nakama, no less!" The announcer yelled in the microphone.

"Natsu, we're not gonna hurt Mirajane, you know that."

"I don't care, I want her out of there as fast as possible!" The group was shocked at Natsu's fierce retort.

"Sorry, Natsu, we have to delay that." Erza whispered beneath her breath as she threw her sword at Natsu, who had just made contact with the channeling rune. With a roar, he set the ground in front of him ablaze. Out of the blue fire, an ice wall rose to protect him from the soaring sword.

"Just get him away from the damn thing and get away!" Erza shouted as she lunged forward with her Blümenblatt active. Another sword ended up flying in a straight line to Natsu. The previous one already put a great dent into his ice well. Natsu broke the surface of ice and shot the splinters, in combination with his flame, Erza's way. The splinters forced the swords out of course as the fire froze them. They landed into the ground, walls, benches, trees close to Natsu. One landed just before the channeling rune, Mirajane gulped at the sight of it. Erza evaded upwards to avoid the shattered ice and the blue fire. Gray, who was behind her, dodge rolled to his left and created an ice cannon while doing so. Freed had changed into his Absolute Shadow form, for he knew he'd need it against Natsu.

Laxus had already lightning dashed behind Natsu. The fire mage glanced over his shoulder and saw the lightning fist coming down on him. His back caught the blue flames, and ice spikes rose from it. Natsu looked like a hedgehog at this point, and Laxus' strike was disadvantageous to only himself as it hurt him badly. He retreated after watching Gray's projectile being launched. It got a direct hit in on Natsu's stomach, right on Grim's rune. Natsu let out a big gasp of pain as he felt a powerful pulse throughout his body, one that forced him into something. As he flew past Laxus, his flames turned darker. The wall's rubble obstructed all vision between him and the other Fairy Tail mages.

Once the rubble got out of the way and the fog cleared up, Natsu's darker fire had taken over. He was in his full darkness enhanced combat mode. At first he took a glance over to where Mirajane was, and became enraged when he saw she wasn't there anymore. Though, he seemed to be holding back, and muttering.

"Leave me alone, Grim. This isn't...playtime, GET OUT!"

"But, don't you want to hurt them right now? After all, they took Mirajane away from you." The shady voice echoed through Natsu's mind.

"Mirajane's fine, they're just doing what they're supposed to be doing."

"That's what you want to believe, but you know that they wanted to do it. They've been wanting to catch you without her around. They've been wanting to snuff that light out." Natsu seems to be inhaling deeply before continuing his conversation with Grim.

"I know that's not true, you won't convince me otherwise."

"Meh, it's not like we'll get to play anyways, they ran." The scene before them was an empty one. Where only just now was so much action, is now a dead plaza.

"Good, now we're gonna find Mirajane, and we're gonna get her out of that thing." Grim sighed in annoyance, he was only there to get a good workout.

"Why can't you just coöperate and punch some stuff?"

"Why can't YOU just coöperate and then I WILL punch some stuff."

"Because this is more fun." Natsu was now the one sighing.

"Well, you're not getting any action as long as you're like that. We're just gonna get Mirajane and leave."

"WHAT? You can't do that, you know you can't!" Grim had finally lost the upper hand, Natsu was now mentally stable.

"Sure I can. After all, I can smell anyone." Grim pouted, not that Natsu could see him do it. Meanwhile, the Mermaid heel group was crossing the street, thinking they were headed towards their teammate. However, they were quickly halted by the mages of Sabertooth. Alerted by their presence, Kagura quickly moves her hand towards her katana.

"So eager to fight, what's up with that?" Orga remained with his arms crossed in front of the group of female mages.

"We're just here to get you cleaned up and then we'll go get Minerva out of here. See? That way, we'll get to catch up to Fairy Scum."

"Orga, no need to be so impolite to our enemies, we should treat them with respect."

"Respect? Rufus, you realize what you're saying right? You plan on treating these guys as equals? You know we're stronger than them." Sting came crashing down in a blinding light. The group was split, trying to evade the incoming attack. It was when they touched the walls, that multiple shadows popped out and held them in place.

"Shadow Bind." A whisper came from behind Orga. When he moved aside, Rogue was revealed. Kagura managed to cut the shadows with Archnemesis as she growled. She quickly rushed over to free her teammates. They were missing Milliana, who she held dearest. For that reason, Kagura was about to give it her best.

"You should back up your words before you spit them at your opponent." Kagura muttered as she had already made her way behind Sting.

"GAH!" Sting fell to the ground, Kagura had landed a blow with great force on a weak spot. She felt lightning, shadows, ice and fire lunging at her. Skillfully, she evaded all while making her way back to her teammates.

"That's what I like to see, now you're all revved up, huh?" Sting smiled as he wiped the small amount of blood he coughed out earlier from his face.

"We're not afraid to go through you for Milliana!" Riley yelled.

"Prove it..." He glared at the girl, who gulped at the challenge. Kagura, however, was not intimidated and immediately motioned her partners to follow up. She rushed ahead while Arana shot a web behind her. Kagura was aware of this and turned her blade so that the reflection of the sun would blind Sting and Rogue for only a little bit. During this moment, Kagura swung at Rogue, while the web captured Sting. The sword was blocked in the middle of it's swing by Orga, who held it between both hands. Orga grinned before discharging his black lightning. Kagura, realizing the danger, let go of Archnemesis. She duck and spun to deliver a swift kick to his leg. Orga tripped and was vulnerable to Beth's incoming carrot barrage, until Rufus protected him.

"Guardian Wings of the Blight Phoenix." He stretched out his palm towards the fire that took the image of a phoenix in front of Orga. It's wings absorbed and turned the carrots into ash. As Rufus slowly clenched his hand into a fist, the phoenix's fire intensified.

"Kagura, get out of there!" Risley shouted as she tried to aid Kagura in her escape by forcing her out of the way with gravity. She fell towards the building to her left, until she stopped abruptly. Now strangling her, was her own shadow.

"Shadow Bind." Rogue repeated his previous spell, keeping Kagura in place. She stared at the flaming sight, wondering how she could escape. It increased in size, until it seemed about ready to explode. The group stared in agony and feared the worst. The next moment passed very quickly. At first, there were the screams of Mermaid Heel. The phoenix reshaped into a ball form, and disappated. Erza jumped through in her flame empress armor while swinging at Ogra, landing a strong hit. Rufus had lost his focus thanks to Freed's 'Fear' inscription. As Sting tried to attack Freed, Erza knocked him out with a simple chop to his neck to get him off balance, followed up by a flame strike in his back.

Laxus circled around the Mermaids, trapping them. As he closed in on them, the girls ended up back-to-back. Gray jumped over the rooftops. Mid-way, he launched his ice cannon downwards, the projectile landed straight onto the three mermaids. As Gray came crashing down, he bound them in ice chackles. To put them out of their misery, Laxus shocked them unconscious by sending a heavy jolt through the ice.

Freed ran over to a wall and jabbed it. As it crumbled down, Rogue appeared from the shadows of the rubble. The rune mage cast a 'Blindness' incription on Rogue, leaving him harmless.

"What is this? Only just now, these powerful guilds were having a face-off. Yet, in only a single moment, Fairy Tail joined the fight and took immediate control!" Chapati's voice was filled with amazement, which carried over to the crowd.

"This was all thanks to their coördinated attack, extremely well done!" Yajima praised the mages for their well-executed attack.

"Well done, everyone." Erza decided to encourage her allies by praising them as well. All they did was nod in approval. Suddenly, however, they were alerted by an extremely loud roar. They all dropped to the ground, their hands to their ears.

Only a bit earlier, Natsu was roaming the streets. He was smelling out Mirajane, and knew he was closeby. Grim was still nagging on him, bored as he was.

"You really are a spoilsport, you know that?" He sighed.

"You really are an asshole, you know that?" Natsu retorted.

"Whoa, you're not serious, are you?"

"What other kind of person would just completely ruin all of this just for his own amusement?"

"A guy that enjoys life?"

"No, a guy without friends." Grim grunted, getting pissed off because of Natsu's accusations.

"You're the guy that always goes through all kinds of shit for his friends, I don't want that."

"You could also have some fun with those friends, you know? Ever thought of that?"

"No, not really." Grim nonchalantly replied.

"Whatever."

"Quick to drop the subject, are we? We oughta be close." The dark spirit knew what was distracting Natsu.

"Ugh, shut it." The Dragon Slayer turned the corner, and noticed a glimpse of silver hair. As his smile grew, it immediatly dimmed down once the cracks in the ground before him bursted open. Out of the large crater that was just created, dragons rose skywards.

"The hell?" Natsu's ears were filled with their roars.

"I didn't know this event had recreated dragons in it!" Chapati excitedly exclaimed.

"THOSE AREN'T FROM THE EVENT! EVERYONE, EVACUATE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" A guard rushed to the microphone and announced. Screams of panic were released by the crowd as they all ran for the nearest exit.

"Natsu, Lord Zeref has some special treatment ready for you." Natsu looked up to where the voice came from. Ivan Dreyar, Raven Tail's guild master, called out to him from the head of the dragon he was riding.

"What the hell are you doing with those dragons, why are they here?!" Natsu yelled back.

"It's all thanks to one of the darkest spells Zeref has to offer, 'reanima'. It allows me to revive anything or anyone and put them under my command." Ivan was kind enough to explain, as bad guys tend to do. (Seriously, what's up with that?) Natsu gritted his teeth together as he watched the stream of dragons continue from the crack in the ground.

"I suppose we'll have to fight fire with fire."

* * *

Here, the action really starts! So, I didn't really want to roll with future Rogue, since I didn't plan on making any excuse for his arrival from the future. Though, I would've loved to make a future Lucy die. Me when future Lucy died in the anime: "Great, that's one down, now the other one!". Apologies, Lucy's far from my favorite character. Oh well, I suppose you folks already knew that. At least I got to update, you know? I'm happy I did, because you guys have been sitting there for so long. But know that I am capable once more. I've also kind of been stuck on the fight. Those who follow my other story know that I've had my computer working again for a little while. But, I've simply been stuck on the fight with the three guilds. It just didn't want to be written, so this is what I ended up with. I tried every day, I really did, but I ended up writing only 200 words each day... Though, I really got myself to write to the last part today and now we're here. So yeah... I really was stuck for a while. But, now that's over. I appreciate you all wasting your time, reading my crap, as I create it solely for you to enjoy, and for all of our time to be wasted! Yay for time-wasting!


	68. Chapter 68

I am back once more, with another chappy. Man, has my vacation been messed up. All this travelling, I hate travelling. I went to visit my mother. I forgot to mention my birthday last time. Monday, October 27, it was. I spent 13.5 hours of it in a truck towards the country I despise most of all. Yay me. Oh well, suppose shit happens. Anyways, I brought the tension up, there's no going back now! Gotta try to get this stuff out as good as possible, or at least decent... acceptable... tolerable. Yeah, let's go with that.

* * *

Immediatly after the announcement, the event was halted. By doing so, the constructed city vanished from existence, as well as the cages holding the hostages.

"Mira!" Natsu leapt over the hole on his way to her, but was intercepted by a tail sweep.

"Hoho, easy there. I told you, we have some special treatment." Ivan smirked. His grin faded when he was disturbed by a jolt of lightning rushing past him.

"And we've got some for you as well!" Laxus came in with a charged fist, filled with a grudge against his father. Laxus' attack missed, as Ivan evaded it. However, the moment the lightning mage was out of danger, a giant fist crashed down upon the dragon. Natsu was released from the dragon's grip, and immediatly ran over to Mirajane.

"Mira, hey!" He shouted as he neared her. She got up on her own, and met his gaze.

"I'm fine, what the hell's going on."

"Eh, apparently this guy summoned some dragons... dead dragons."

"You're joking..."

"I'm afraid not!" Laxus joined the conversation.

"You guys have any idea why this is happening?" Natsu turned toward the lightning mage.

"All I know is that that scumbag is behind it, which gives me all the more reason to be involved. Other than that, it's just our usual attack on Fairy Tail."

"Ehm, I thought it was just on me, though." Natsu sounded confused as he blinked while staring at the dragon in Makarov's grip.

"Natsu... You ARE Fairy Tail. We all are." Mirajane sighed as she explained.

"Heh, right. GUYS! I need you all to get me as much time as possible!" The fire mage shouted upwards to his nakama.

"To do what?" Gray yelled back while firing ice lances.

"To get reinforcements..." Natsu whispered before leaving the battle.

"Natsu's a dragon slayer, he can't leave when we need him the most!" Erza complained after tossing her Blumenblätt after another dragon.

"It's not manly to run!" Elfman had to comment... had to.

"I think you're forgetting something else that Natsu is." Mirajane grinned at the armor mage.

"I'm sure that Natsu knows what he's doing, let's just trust him and do as he asked." Makarov grunted as he was forced backwards by the dragon.

"And that is to do what, hold your ground? Please." Ivan rose to the sky on top of another dragon.

"You think you can fend off an army of this caliber? I'd like to see you try."

"Don't worry about that, shitface, you'll get to." Laxus shouted in anger.

"Someone's got a temper." Ivan huffed before commanding an all-out attack from the dragons. The entirety of Fairy Tail was now making an attempt at holding their ground. Their attacks were, of course, ineffective against the dragons, yet they could still use them defensively. The only thing most of them could do is knock the dragons out of their way during their charged, if they even managed that. It required at least three mages at once to do so, and that was a lot more than Fairy Tail had at the moment.

"Damn it, we're not gonna last against them if it goes down like this!" Erza realized as she tried sending another surge of lightning through the sky. Laxus was aiding her, as they shared their lightning and spread it. After this, Erza turned into her Water Empress armor and joined up with Juvia. Makarov was fending off two dragons at once, while Wendy backed him up. Gajeel jumped up high on top of a dragon and starting beating into it with his Iron club in his right hand and iron sword in his left. After he unleashed his flurry, the dragon reached to it's back with it's tail, sweeping Gajeel away. While he was soaring downwards, the iron dragon slayer turned around and unleashed a roar at that very same dragon. From behind his back, two other roars joined his so that the dragon was hit with a tremendous amount of force. Gajeel was rather surprised with the sudden backup, and immediatly turned to see where it came from.

"Yo, Gajeel!" Sting waved towards the metalhead.

"Sabertooth!" Evergreen turned and gasped in relief. Gajeel was caught by an ice slide that Gray put down.

"Glad to help!" Sting grinned.

"Where's Natsu?" Rogue asked, scanning the area.

"Oh, yeah, where is he?" Sting noticed the absence of the dragon slayer as well.

"He ran off, like the lil' bitch he is." Gajeel muttered as he swiped the dirt off his face with his arm.

"It's not so difficult to tell when Gajeel is changing the truth." Rogue stared at Gajeel with clenched eyes.

"Natsu went to do something very important, we just need to buy him some time." Mirajane gave them her satanic grin.

"She's v-very diff-f-f-ferent from when we first met her." Sting jumped up in Rogue's arms.

"I suppose if that's what he asked, that's what he's getting. Some time it is!" The white dragon slayer yelled.

"We have four dragon slayers in our presence, now. They should work as a team and focus one dragon at a time, so it can be eliminated as quickly as possible." Erza reasoned.

"Woah, woah, eliminated?" They questioned in unison.

"Yeah, you're dragon slayers, after all."

"Well, yeah, but we've actually never fought a dragon." They admitted, heads down in shame. A depressive aura floated above their heads as the group before them sweat dropped.

"Just give it your best!" Lisanna was being her optimistic self, trying to cheer on the other mages. They all nodded and engaged in combat once more.

"This should be good." Natsu felt satisfied with the location as he started channeling his magic.

"Nah ah." A malicious voice came into play upon the formation of the dark flames around Natsu's fists.

"Are you fucking serious? Grim, I really can't deal with this right now."

"That doesn't concern me, this looks like fun."

"What, annoying me?"

"Heh, I suppose." A meaningless response annoyed Natsu even further.

"I really need to do this, people could be dying out there!"

"Like I said, that doesn't concern me." Natsu sat down, hopelessly thinking of a solution. He rose his head, thinking of something.

"Say, Grim."

"What is it now?"

"You realize that, if only you coöperated, we'd get to beat up DRAGONS, right?" At this, a moment of silence followed. Then, some puffing came.

"You're... You're not lying, right? I'm gonna be beating up some dragons? You're not gonna be pulling out Spark, Violet, Blue or Blaze, right?" Natsu grinned upon hearing his uncertain words.

"That's right, I won't."

"Alright, do it. Get going, I wanna beat some lizards up!" The fire ignited, and Natsu immediatly continued channeling.

"Help is on the way guys, just hang on tight..."

"Even more? Jeez, they don't ever stop, do they?" Laxus sighed in annoyance before turning around, staring at the source of the dragon roars. He yelled in surprise as he ducked out of the way of a dragon soaring over the rooftops. In the meantime, the fight had already moved down to the city. As the group turned to see where the dragon had gone off to, they saw it crashing into another one and Natsu jumping from it.

"Natsu?!"

"Hi." He simply greeted them.

"Where you on a dragon, just now?" Gray stared questionably at his friend.

"Yeah. I was. Don't you remember? I'm the king of the fire dragons, after all." This brought back memories of Natsu's trials to a select few of the group, and reminded others of an article in Sorcerer's Weekly. They stared in amazement at the incoming army of fire dragons to help them out. All of the mages in Crokus had been fighting to keep the dragons from causing destruction, though they could only do so much. Now that they had dragons of their own, the fight should be going a lot more into their favor.

"Grrrr.." Ivan growled, annoyed by the appearance of Natsu's fire dragons.

"Beat 'em up, beat 'em up, beat 'em up!" Natsu heard Grim's voice echoing through his head.

"We oughta force our way to that bastard." The fire dragon slayer pointed behind him, receiving a nod from the mages before him. As he erupted in the dark flames, which he could properly control now, Natsu jumped up high and crashed down on top of a dragon. A giant explosion of dark flames erupted as he did this. The dragon roared before attempting to throw Natsu off it's back with it's tail. He dodged it by jumping upwards. The dragon performed a barrel roll while the fire mage was in the sky and roared at him. Natsu roared back, and so the two powerful spells collided. The power was even, until Laxus' lightning halberd gave Natsu the advantage. As the dragon lowered in altitude, the twin dragons jumped and gave it the finishing blow by unleashing a Shadow Dash in combination with a Holy Ray. The continuous attack cut the dragon no slack and gave it no time to recover until the big impact from Rogue's attack came and brought it down.

"Alright! That's a dragon down, only a hundred more to go." Sting fist pumped the air.

"Where was Gajeel during all that?" Laxus asked, his arms crossed and a bored expression on his face.

"You guys are really slow, you know that?" They turned towards Gajeel's voice, who had spoken the words. They gulped as they saw the unconscious dragon behind him.

"Get a move on, all of you!" The regular mages pushed them forward, as they tried to keep their dragon slayers safe from being overrun.

* * *

So, that was it, for now. I hope I did this well, though I probably could've gone into more detail with the whole fighting and stuff. It's just so difficult, because fights are so time-consuming. God damn it. But hey, at least there's quite some action now, right? That's right, heck yeah there is. I'm leaving it at that for now, hope you're all satisfied!


	69. Chapter 69

Extended weekend is over :( Sad face. Oh well, I got to play a lot. Dark Souls II PvP is a bitch, I tell ya. Not that many of you care. Regardless of that, good ol' Rosy got herself in the hospital. :( Poor Rosy. Not sure if a lot of you recall, but she's a writer of one of the stories I shared, and a good friend to me. That's why I want to ask all of you if it's possible to do something. It's very simple. I would love it if as many as possible would send Rosy Fire their best wishes on November 19, her birthday. It's already sad enough that she has to spend it there, might as well make the best of it, right? To those that think they could do this, I wish to thank you ahead of time. Let's give her a nice family hug, k? :) (Let's make that an actual thing, mention the family hug, people!) ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU!

* * *

"Rogue, from your right!" Gajeel delivered a heavy blow to the dark dragon, sending it flying in Rogue's direction. The shadow mage took notice of the dragon, and positioned himself a little more backwards. When the dragon passed in front of him, he released a Shadow Cross right into the dragon's stomach.

"Natsu, take this one for me, will ya!" Sting brought yet another dragon to Natsu by the means of a Holy Punch. Natsu spun horizontally around it, while encasing himself in the darkness that were his flames. While supporting his one arm with the other, he grabbed a hold of one of the scales on it's back. He started releasing a vast amount of his fire from his hand, scorching the Iron Dragon's back. As he increased the stream of fire over time, it was suddenly halted. He created a huge orb of the dark flame and positioned it on front of his mouth, as he proceeded to roar through it at the dragon. The knockback from the spell was great, so that the dragon was launched towards the one that Rogue sent Natsu's way. As they collided, the spikes on one dragon's back dug into the stomach of the other. Beneath them, was Laxus. The lightning Dragon Slayer, who's offense was enhanced by Wendy, was fully charged with lightning.

"Lightning Dragon's Splintering Bolt!" The surge of lightning materliazed from his hands. As it shot out, Laxus himself was forced to the ground by the knockback. The bolt rushed through the two dragons, bringing them down for the count. It continued it's way towards the many other dragons, damaging many of them along the way. Since it was powered up by Wendy, and took so long to build up, it's force was tremendous.

"Way to go, Laxus!" Gray yelled.

"The time for celebration is not yet here." Makarov exclaimed as he stared at the floating haze of dragons above them. Ivan was annoyed once more, as he saw the bolt rage through his army. Fire dragons were pushing them back, and Dragon Slayers were weakening his forces.

"This is gonna come down to him and me, isn't it? Be that way." A dark figure behind him nodded, before disappearing.

"Everybody, hang in there just a bit longer. We're almost there!" Wendy shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Say, what if Ivan loses his concentration or goes down? Will that cancel the spell?" Natsu turns towards Makarov, expecting an answer.

"Might be, but I can't say for sure. Lots of spells have this effect, but we're dealing with black magic here." The fire mage nodded.

"I think I'm charing him." The group stared him down for a few seconds. Makarov held onto an incoming dragon's jaws until a fire dragon took over.

"Through that horde?!" Gray pointed at the remaining amount of dragons that were under Ivan's command.

"Yup!" The careless response made them all sigh in unison.

"I'm coming with you." Mirajane spoke up.

"No, Mira-"

"I'M COMING WITH YOU!" Yup, that eh...That sure shows him what's up. Mirajane obviously has no intention of leaving Natsu by himself.

"Ok, ok." He waves at her, giving her what she wants.

"We'll try to keep them off your ass as much as we can." Makarov crouched before him.

"Isn't that what you've all been doing already?" Natsu grinned up at him before mounting a fire dragon after giving a sign.

"True, just make sure not to get hu-!"

"MASTER!" Most of them shouted.

"GRAMPS!" Makarov was stabbed through the chest by the twin-spiked tail tail of an iron dragon, piercing both lungs. Behind Makarov were a couple of fire dragons that had crashed into the ground. It seems like the dragons were somehow able to push through the fire dragons' defenses in a single charge. All the dragons had a red glow in their eyes and a dark aura radiating from them. Behind them, they could see Ivan grinning while he clenched the fist that he was holding up high. Makarov hit the ground, Wendy immediately rushed over to him to tend to his wounds. This, of course, proved rather difficult when someone has two giant holes in his chest. Makarov's body decreased in size, lowering the amount of healing for Wendy to perform.

"He...buffed them?" Their answer came quickly as the dragons charged with tremendous force. Natsu gave Ivan a fierce look, the kind that says 'Now it's personal'.

"It's gonna get a lot harder from here on out." He suddenly told his fellow mages, who were still shocked by what just happened.

"Natsu's right. We can't just casually stroll down the road to victory anymore." Mirajane spoke up. The Strauss siblings, Cana, Gray, the Dragon Slayers all nodded.

"Our defense should be focused on the fire dragons, but now that the enemy has gained this advantage, they're definitely gonna need our help standing their ground against them." Laxus stood up.

"Divide and Conquer won't work that easily!" Cana yelled as she rose and lifted her fist towards Ivan.

"It's true that we just lost the person that easily was our strongest, and biggest link. Without him, we need much better coördination." Sting realized. The group gave him slight glared, but they realized where he was coming from and that he was right.

"We'll handle that. Natsu, Mirajane, we're counting on you to take him down." Gray grinned at them, trying to ignore the sadness of watching his master fall to the ground while the life was draining out of him. Natsu nodded as he took off.

"Avoid contact to the best of your abilities." He whispered to the fire dragon they were riding.

'I hope they'll be all right...' He thought while looking back at the mages.

"Don't worry, we need to focus on our job now." Mirajane realized what he was thinking about. He hummed and nodded before looking back at his grinning target. The dragons suddenly started targeting the two mages. Dark flames scorching one, dark lightning shocking another. Ivan laughed while seeing the spectacle. As Natsu and Mirajane dropped on top of his own dragon, he smirked.

"You know, for people who oppose Zeref, you use an awful lot of dark magic."

"There's a difference between magic with the dark attribute and black magic."

"Oh? Please, enlighten me." Ivan laughed again as he showed off a materliazed form of his black magic. Natsu and Mirajane were seperated for they were forced to roll away from one another to dodge the outburst. Mirajane switched to her fire dragon soul. Ivan grunted at the transformation. He shaped many smaller orbs and sent them in a horizontal line at an alerting speed. Naturally, the mages evaded it by jumping over or rolling underneath it. What they didn't expect, was the vertical bursts that were now coming straight at them. The energetic matter exploded, launching Mirajane and Natsu further away from him.

"Don't tell me that's all there is to ya." The servant of Zeref taunted them.

"Not by a long shot." Natsu lifted Mirajane from the ground. He smiled at her before spinning while holding her hands. When he reached top speed, het lot go of her. Mirajane was launched in Ivan's direction, while spinning. She unleashed her fire from her hands and mouth. What was now coming at Ivan, was a spinning razor of fire. He planned to simply deflect her, until that action was halted.

"Apologies, Grim. I'm gonna need more to take him down."

"Sigh, I get it." He grinned as he heard Grim's acknowledgment of the necessity. Using Violet's flame, he had performed a small teleport to his back. A 'blink', if you will. A heavy palm strike, enhanced with Darkfire, flat to his spine forced Ivan to his knees. He took Mirajane's Flame Spiral to the face, and was knocked on his back and slided further down the dragon.

"Well, isn't that just annoying." He stood up again.

"That didn't sound like it merely 'annoyed' you, judging by your scream just now." Natsu smirked.

"I don't think you quite realize the posiition you're in, Natsu." By Ivan's command, the dragon spun and dropped them. The three mages were now falling down to the earth. Ivan crashed into the earth, but did so while landing on his by darkness enhanced legs and arms. Natsu had jolted through the air by electricity and caught Mira while doing so. They landed and watched Ivan's body be entirely engulfed by this darkness. As he lunged at them, the ground underneath him cracked.

"Looks like this fight is about to get physical." Natsu whispered as he saw the big body coming at him. As Ivan's fist was about to connect, Natsu lowered his upper body sideways and delivered a Darkfire kick to Ivan's stomach as he passed straight over him. He was launched upwards, but not by much. His body had become much sturdier thanks to this enhancement.

"Good thing I was trained well in physical combat." He grinned. Mirajane leapt up until she positioned herself above Ivan. Natsu and her spun clock-wise, generating fire in-between them. The crimsson and dark flames mixed, making a fiery tornado that encase Ivan mid-air. In the center, where both flames collided, the fire spread both inward and outward. The dark mage was crushed by the heat, and forced downwards by Mirajane's final outcry. Her eruption of flames overpowered all. Natsu dodged out of the way as Ivan crashed into the ground. Mirajane landed, and she pulled him up to his knees. Natsu froze his legs and hands in place. At this point, Ivan was unable to move.

"Dark Lotus: A Thousand Thorns of Unrelenting Decay." Natsu brought his hands in front of his chest. A small orb of darkfire appeared as the rune on his chest lit up. Natsu crushed the energy in between his palms. As he held it there, he spun 270° around his right foot. Now, instead of his front, his left side was facing Ivan. As he had spun, he had spread his hands. A thing thread of the dark flames connected his palms. As he glared at the man, he removed his left hand from the end that faced Ivan and jammed it into his chest using the other hand. A scream filled the sky, and the thing collection of energy started to spread it's 'thorns'. Ivan was stabbed over and over. Every thorn made it's way to the ground after piercing him. As it reached the ground, the grass decayed. Ivan's body was starting to age at a tremendous rate.

"This seems to be the end for you." Natsu whispered as he bowed to Ivan.

"I will never forgive you for what you've done, ever." He heard a small hickup from Ivan, as he spoke these words. He looked up at him, and was surprised to see that he was regaining his color. The dark thorns were shattering, retreating inside Ivan's very own body. He slurped it up inside his mouth as if it was food to him. Both Mirajane and Natsu stared at him in shock.

"No way."

"Don't tell me. He's a Dragon Slayer?"

"Not quite..." Ivan grinned as he grew in size. His skin was replaced by black scales and blue marks spread from his head down to his newly acquired tail. His eyes turned white and his teeth turned into fangs. In front of Natsu and Mirajane, now, stood... Acnologia.

* * *

Phew, I really didn't know what to do with Ivan there. Was tough to write that fight, for I really didn't know what to make him do. BUT! I did know that I wanted to pull this off, yay! Like it? :P Once again, I would love you guys if you would do that for Rosy. Though, probably not too many of you are actually gonna do it, but we've all been there, right? The hospital, I mean. Was it during our birthday? Maybe, maybe not. My birthday sucked, but I'm gonna try to make Rosy's as happy as I can possibly make it!


	70. Chapter 70

APOLOGIES! Exams came along. Even so, I kind of ditched the story more than I should've. I finished them yesterday, so I'm hoping I could please you guys with an update... after a freaking month. Forgive me! I'll see what I can bring out of this. Now, let me just check back on what the hell even happened last chapter :P Ah, I see. Let us continue the story, then!

Also, there is another story that I wanted to share among y'all! It's called "Anna" by Rainbowmnms. She also happens to have written "Chasing the Darkness". Both are brilliant NatsuXOC stories. Highly recommended by my very self. The second is rather slow on the romance, but Anna seems to be picking up the pace. Anna is still on going.

I've been thinking about something. This story has been dragging out rather long, hasn't it? I feel like it's lost it's purpose, not that it had any in the first place. I'm really happy with what I've achieved, but writing it has become more and more... uninspiring. It hasn't been very refreshing. I feel like, after the GMG, I shouldn't keep it going for much longer. Besides the story itself, this long break has made me realize how tough it can actually get to be writing these two stories simultaniously. I wanted to tell you all this because this is how I, as the writer, feel. And, around here, what I feel is THE LAW! Not really, but it is pretty darn significant, I dare say. With that, I shall end this rant and give you people what is expected of me.

* * *

Erza falls to her knees when the dragon, whoms attack she was blocking with her spear, was knocked away from her by the collected force of Gajeel's Iron Pole and Laxus' Lightning Halberd.

"We've been going for too long, how much more are there?" Erza stares fiercely through the scarlet hair, casting a shadow on her face. Laxus takes a good look around him. Natsu isn't with them, so the only Dragon Slayers here were himself, Sting, Rogue, Gajeel and Wendy. And, to be honest, Wendy didn't really count. While the Dragon Slayers were tag-teaming to get the dragons down as efficiently as possible, the others were trying their hardest to even stand their ground against them.

Erza herself was on her damn knees. Master Makarov was decreasing in size by the minute. Alzack and Bisca were running out of shots. Cana was getting close to the end of her card supply. Elfman had gone back to transforming only a single limb to save enery. Bickslow was only using half of his puppets. Things weren't looking good. But, lots of dragons were on the ground, as it were. This includes friendly and hostile dragons.

"If it weren't for Natsu's reinforcements, we'd all be goners." Laxus sighs as he turns his gaze back to Erza.

"I hate to admit it, but Salamander's really carrying us through this one." Gajeel crosses his arms and turns away from Erza.

"His army is growing smaller, but something's off. I don't know what it is, but I have a bad feeling."

"As long as we hold out long enough. Go, you two." Erza motions them to move on. As she plants her gaze into their backs while the two Dragon Slayers run off to assist other wizards, she grunts and removes her hand from the bleeding wound on her stomach.

"C'mon, boy. Show off that transformation of yours. I'd love to fight Igneel again." Ivan, now Acnologia, spoke with a sinister tone. He laid emphasis on the love, mocking Natsu's own strength.

"Mirajane, think you're ready?" Natsu looks at the Take Over mage as he feared for her well-being during the following stage of their fight. She gave him a reassuring nod with a smile, which quickly disappeared as she turned her head towards the black dragon once more. They held hands as they let their magic surge, looking for something inside of them. What they were looking for, were the souls of a dragon. Natsu opened his eyes as the flames spurted out of his body. Mirajane gave Acnologia the same fierce look when a she started glowing brightly. The incandescent light made the chaos dragon look away, much to his annoyance.

"Soul Fusion!" They both called out for the newly discovered technique. Natsu's fire assumed it's own form, taking the shape of a dragon that released a powerful roar. Mirajane's light coarsed through his flames, so it would replicate the shape. Once that was done, the two seperated. They materliazed in the very dragons whoms souls were being held by Natsu and Mirjane.

"Igneel, king of the fire dragons, and his very own mate. Don't you think 2v1'ing is a bit unfair?" A grin could be detected on the bold face of Acnologia.

"Not when facing someone as corrupted as you." Natsu retaliated with Igneel's voice and body.

"Ouch, such a burn. Then again, that was to be expected from the most powerful of all fire dragons." The opposing dragon seemed to have a great time making fun of the two, before Natsu and Mirajane charged at him. They took note of the subtle grin on his face as he braced for impact. Natsu halted and flapped his wings heavily, releasing a powerful gust. This did two things: Mirajane's dragon body, which was the more slender one, picked up some speed while Acnologia was forced off-balance and on his back legs. This gave Mirajane an oppertunity for a powerful blow to his stomach, one of the weaker spots of the dragons body. She moved in for a headbut, the most devestating move she could pull with the speed she had available to her at that given time.

"Ah-ah." The dark voice echoed through their minds as Mirajane's head was blatanly stopped. None of it's force reached Acnologia. As she landed back on the ground, the female dragon body stared upwards. Covering Acnologia's chest, there was some sort of rock. All Mirajane knew at that point was that it was very strong.

"You can't be serious." She heard Natsu's whisper.

"You know what it is, then? That surprises me." Acnologia tried to mock Natsu again. This time, his intelligence.

"Why the heck do you have a Felronite protection? Last time I checked, Felronite isn't exactly easy to come by."

"Zeref is the answer to everything, kiddo." The dragon answered as he raised his head, inhaling deeply. Darkness was already flowing from it's mouth. It quickly released it's corrupted breath down upon Mirajane, who leapt sideways to avoid the attack. It spread over the earth, however. After her evasive manouevers, she still came in contact with the dark magic. She fell to the ground, as her talons gave in. Acnologia chuckled at the helpless sight, but was interrupted when a flame breathing body came crashing into him. He was knocked on his back and Natsu would give him no time to recover. The fire breath he had prepared during his charge now came down on the black dragon. The Felronite came in to protect him. Natsu reacted by jamming the claws of his back legs into Acnologia's tail. This lead him to the conclusion that Acnologia can only collect the Felronite in one place, he cannot divide it.

"Damn you." The suffering dragon cursed.

"That's what you get for using cheap tricks."

"Says the guy with a downed girlfriend." Acnologia retorted.

"That's energetic fiancée, for you." Mirajane corrected him. Her angry face, with fire dripping from her mouth, lurking over him. He reacted by releasing a dark pulse that forced both of them back. The black dragon was now right in between Natsu and Mirajane.

"You were quick to recover." He stared the female dragon down, expecting an answer.

"We've met Zeref in person, I can handle a bit more than that when it comes to dark magic." Was her reply. He grunted. Acnologia threw his upper body up in the air, dark energy charging in it's claws. He crashed down, infusing the earth with that very magic. It slowly spread through the ground, leaving nothing but darkness. It was as if a disease was spreading through the earth. Both of our mages watched it spread right beneath their feet. Behind them, it suddenly rose up in the air. After rising to a decent altitude, it changed course towards the middle again. Now, they were completely encased in this darkness.

"Now... We play by my rules." The corrupted dragon whispered. Now, only his blue tattoos were visible. But even those faded away. A few moments after that, the blue marks reappeared. Natsu immediately threw a fire breath it's way. The fire held on to those blue markings, but nothing more. It seemed as if nothing was attached to them, because there wasn't.

"Seems like you hit it." He was annoyed to hear his mocking voice, echoing once more.

"That's more than we can say about you." Mirajane retorted.

"Ah, she's got the same fiery spirit you do. How adorable." Then, the female dragon was sent crashing into Natsu with tremendous force.

"Playing from the shadows now, are we? I know something similar to that... " The fire mage tapped into his own magic container, rather than his transformation's. A loud screech filled Mirajane's eardrums as Natsu's crimson flames turned violet. His eyes turned white and his scales turned black with a purple edge.

"N-Natsu?! You're mixing Soul Fusion with your own magic? I didn't even know that was possible!"

"I'll make it possible..." He hissed, seems like it took quite some effort to sustain it.

"Gotta hand it to ya, that's pretty impressive." Natsu grinned while summoning a copy of his body.

"I'm glad you think so."

"Hm, tell me, how exactly will this help you? Or was this simply to show off?"

"Lil' bit of both." He kept his grin on his face, inhaling deeply before exhaling. Violet had taught him techniques for deep concentration. It was this concentration that would help him track Acnologia down where his eyes can't, nor can his nose. Everything slowed down. He sensed his own breathing, Mirajane's breathing. He felt the ground tremble slightly because of her walking around him. He sensed a rythm from something, though he did not know from what. He found another breathing. It wasn't as calm, no. It told Natsu that Acnologia wasn't simply standing still. Then, his eyes burst open with energy.

"Found you!"

* * *

Once again, apologies! It's been just too damn long, hasn't it? Like I said, vacation has now started for me. Besides that, I will tell you that the maximum stuff that I'll add to this story will be Natsu's and Mirajane's marriage and a timeskip for a chapter or two maybe. On to the next chapter!


	71. Chapter 71

Laziness. That's right, that's my excuse. I can't say the holidays really held me up, since I don't actually celebrate those. I'm gonna end this now, you people will just have to be satisfied with a chapter, no proper explenation.

* * *

Natsu hurled a a fireblast over in the air. He could hear a sound of surprise coming from what seemed to be Acnologia, as he was evading the attack. It soared right underneath him as the flames that stuck to Acnologia cast light upon his dark body. He grunted at Natsu's perception. However, he did not seem to take notice of Mirajane, who was straight below him.

"Tsk, not like that you won't." While the female dragon rushed straight upwards to hit him in his weak spot, the black dragon strafed left while spinning to deliver a strong tail swipe to his attacker.

"Mira!" Natsu shouted. He turned to the black dragon and roared. The violet flames surrounded him as he faded way. Acnologie, who didn't know the spectral flame's properties, was surprised by this.

"Grrr, where'd you run off to, Dragneel?!"

"One could say I turned your own rules against you. Darkness doesn't only benefit you, ya know." Natsu's mocking laughter echoed through the darkness, giving Acnologia a taste of his the arrogance he displayed earlier. The black dragon frantically checked his surroundings for only the slightest clue of Natsu's whereabouts. He then turned to the fire on his chest, which he managed to keep from damaging him using the Felronite, but why wasn't it fading out?

"Fire is not merely a tool of a destruction. It is not this uncontrollable force that people make it out to be. Fire has to be fed to exist. As long as there is a single condition to it, it is not uncontrollable. All we need to do, is find a way to exploit this condition. That, is how you control fire." Natsu seemed to be scolding Acnologia about truly understanding a force. Not just any force. Fire has always been considered the most powerful and destructive of all natural elements. But, as a tradeoff, it was extremely unreliable and could get out of control quickly. That is why, when given the choice, it was usually disregarded. Fire mages have always searched to the secret to maintaining full control over this power, but there was nothing alike. Natsu, the Fire Dragon Slayer, has spent a lot of time with beings that exist of fire. He's gained a lot of wisdom and experience thanks to the long time he spent polishing his magic and from those ethereal beings that feed off the strength of fire. He's come a long way. That puny, 12 year old, ash for breath, flame brain knucklehead would've been excited to know what he'd turn into.

"Then, I'll just have to take out the power source, am I right?" The black dragon reasoned while grinning.

"I suppose you could go ahead and give that a shot, see how that works out." As Natsu's white eyes appeared in the darkness, Acnologia immediately chared. As he got midway, Natsu rushed out from his left. Confused, the black dragon summoned his shield to defend against his charge. This left the flame on his bottom scorching the weakest part of his body. He hissed, but it was that or take Natsu's surprise attack head on. However, there was more surprise to come. Now, from his right, another fire dragon came rushing at him. Mirajane buried her fangs into the hardened scales.

"You bitch!"

"Did she not tell you not to underestimate her persistance? I'm sure she did at one point." The white eyes in front of Acnologia came closer, Natsu's dragon body was revealed. The black dragon looked to his left, staring at the copy of his opponent.

"A 2 versus 1 wasn't enough in your favor, I see."

"What's there to complain about? Aren't we playing by your rules?"

"I suppose we can't add a 'No magic I don't know about' rule real quick?" He pleaded jokingly.

"I would say, no." Natsu hissed before he slammed down onto Acnologia's bold head with both of his talons. It crushed the ground beneath him. As Acnologia suffered, he signaled something. A pillar of darkness rushed down from the sky, at the speed of light. As it hit the ground, a shockwave launched all of them flying. As the dark wave passed them mid-air, all their dragon transformations were dispelled. Same goes for the darkness surrounding them.

When Natsu and Mirajane, now in their humans form once more, looked over to Ivan, Zeref stood before him.

"You again!" Natsu called out, remembering what happened the last time the two of them met the dark mage.

"I couldn't stand idle no longer, I have to see if Natsu is capable enough myself." He whispered to his accomplice.

"Yes, my lord. Shall I deal with the female?"

"You've done enough, you need no longer be concerned about this battle." Ivan backed away as the dark aura intensified.

"Natsu, I'm sure you can tell, but there's no way in hell you're fighting this guy and getting out alive!" Violet echoed through his mind.

"What? We can't just let him rampage! Look at all that power, it'll be disastrous!"

"That's exactly the reason why you can't fight him, kiddo. You've won a lot of battles that weren't in your favor, but this is stretching it." Blaze backed the female spirit up.

"Then what do you suggest we do? Let him do his thing?"

"We already have something in mind, just sit tight."

"Natsu?" Mirajane questioned the fire mage talking to himself.

"It was them, the spirits. We shouldn't fight this guy, we can't take him." Hearing those words from Natsu shocked Mirajane severely.

"I guess it's pretty serious then, if you say that. What did they suggest."

"I don't know what their plan is, but they told me to hang on for just a little bit."

"Then, let's trust them..."

"You sure you wanna call for _him_?" Spark asked Violet.

"It's the only option we got right now!"

"You know we'll have to pay him back like... tenfold, right?" Blaze added.

"I'm aware of that, but it's our best bet. Back me up on this, Blue!" Her plead for help reached the coldest of all flame spirits.

"Unless we want our host right here to die, I'd say this is indeed our only option. What happens afterwards is irrelevant, if the only alternative is no future at all."

"That's not right, WE would simply lose our connection with Natsu and get another Dragon Slayer bound to us. Don't tell me even Blue has grown a liking for Natsu?" Blaze started mocking the strict spirit.

"This is not the time. We need to do this, now." Violet caught their attention once more.

"Right." Spark sighed.

"Ready?" Blue asked.

"Whenever you are." Blaze replied.

Violet inhales deeply. "Now." They all exhale and concentrate on the fire in the middle of them. Spark's breathing halts, and an ember of his fire jolts over to the center. They continue, until Viole does the same. An ember of the spectral flame shifts over to the center, just like Spark's. As they continue, the blue ember and crimson ember join them. Now, the combined embers in combination with a fire as energy supply, rose up and spun in an elipse. It seemed more like a gateway, now. Shaking of the ground occurred. The four of them kneel towards this gate they just opened.

"Azur-sama. The situation is grave, and we require your assistance." The being of massive size and power expanded the gate, that the four of them had opened with much trouble, easily as he stepped through.

"Such is clear to me. If you had called upon me in other conditions, then I'm afraid there would be no need for me to coöperate. Now, I'm assuming the enemy is the one in black opposing our host?" The four nodded. The giant humanoid creature, similar to flame spirits, of superior size sighed. He wasn't a particular color of fire, in fact, there barely was any fire to him. His body was mostly like a mirror, reflecting space. Staring at his body was like gazing at the stars during a clear night. The outlines that shaped his body were the very golden flames that are referred to as 'The Flame of Rebuke'. The same was the case for his eyes and mouth.

"I suppose I shall aid him in battle, then. I cannot believe the four of you joined together in summoning me for a Dragon Slayer, I take it this one is worth the effort?" The four now stood up and gave him a fierce look, showing the conviction they hold for the cause of protecting Natsu.

"I see. I shall give him my very best, if that is the case."

Natsu's body was ignited with the golden flames, like the ones belonging to the flame spirit lord.

"Natsu?!" Mirajane called out in fear. He, himself, was surprised. However, he was drawn into unconsciousness quickly. His body grew and was replaced by the golden flames, who took the shape of the one possessing him now. He awoke in his own mind, once more. Next to the flame spirits that he held dear.

"Uhm, the hell did you do, if I may ask?" They brought him to the vague window, through which the real world could be seen.

"See that thing? That's your body, or what it is now. The one possessing it is Azur Na Ten, lord of the flame spirits, AKA us." Blaze clarified.

"There's someone like that?"

"Well, someone needs to be there in case things go wrong to the point where some sort of balance is distorted or some spiritual crap like that." Spark grinned.

"Mate of the current Fire Dragon Slayer, it would be wise of you to remove yourself from this location." Azur spoke to Mirajane, who was still confused as to what just happened, with a deep and echoing voice.

"N-Natsu?" Was all she could bring out, being in shock.

"My name is Azur Na Ten. I am the mightiest of flame spirits. I rule them, you might say. I temporarily took over 'Natsu's body to take care of the current threat. Now, allow me to repeat myself, it would be wise of you to remove yourself from your current location." He gave her an explenation, seeing as to how the woman would most likely not get a hold of herself without a proper one. Once she understood, she realized this was not gonna be a pretty fight. She immediately knew what to do instead, help her friends in need. Once she turned around and set herself in motion, Azur turned towards the dark mage.

"So, we meet again, lost mage of the dark."

"I did not think I'd have to face anything remotely as powerful as you are again, yet, here you are. Let us have a clear victor, unlike last time." Zeref took a fighting stance. Azur closed his eyes and sensed his power.

"You have not grown since..."

* * *

Alright, maybe a little bit of an explanation. I rewrote this chapter quite a bit, didn't really know what to do. I had a good idea, but it involved the usual 'Natsu gets OP' stuff again. And, honestly, I figured that was getting a bit old. So, I did this instead. Thought I'd just spawn him, instead. But, right now, possession seems pretty legit :P Azur is actually a character that I made up in my other story, but didn't think of a name for him yet. I might keep it this way, come to think of it. Those who read my other story know. On a sidenote, I made a page for Violet on the OC wiki for Fairy Tail. If you'd be interested in anything that has to do with the flame spirits, you might wanna check that out. Perhaps you could give me some feedback on it, I'd very much appreciate it. The link is on my profile. Thanks for reading!


	72. Chapter 72

'Pologies, folks. Been rather occupied by a certain game. Don't judge me, Steam Anime Weekend Sale, yo. Ys Origin is amazing, btw. Anyways, it's time to take a look at a battle between an ethereal being and a corrupted human.

* * *

"The hell's going on up there? The magic energy coming from the top of that place is getting ludacrous!" Macao shouted at the top of his lungs. Ever since Zeref and Azur appeared, the mages have been feeling an uncomfortable pressure, something that only occurs when there's an abundance of magic energy present nearby. The enemy dragons were decreasing in numbers, the dragon slayers were now split up between a section that was getting rid of the ones on the field while the others were camping the source of them, the split in the earth that Ivan spawned.

"My guess is that it's got something to do with Natsu." Gray reasoned.

"But not only Natsu…. I sense something much darker among the energy we're sensing." Makarov added.

"I think this is his toughest challenge yet." The mages looked worrisome at the hill, which did not allow them to see that battle that was about to commence. What they did see, however, was a silver haired woman running down from that very hill. "M-Mirajane?!" When she arrived, she was huffing and puffing from sprinting so much.

"What's going on up there? We're sensing quite a good amount of malice in this dark magic."

"I… I-It's…. Huff….. Ze… r… Zeref." The name shocked a lot of mages, except the ones that didn't know Zeref, which were the ones of the newer generation, like Rogue and Sting.

"The black mage has risen from his slumber, then?" Erza asked.

"No, I believe he still aims for the same goal as he has for almost a century. To die." Makarov corrected her.

"Well, death is something Natsu won't get him, not by himself. We must go and help him!" The armored woman attempted to stand up, but was forced back to her knees by her wounds.

"Easy, Erza. As we are right now, we wouldn't be of much help to him. Mirajane, why didn't you stay with him? You know how powerful Zeref is, he infected Natsu before with only a single attack."

"I'm aware of that. The thing is, Natsu isn't by himself." This raised some confusion amongst the mages.

"Then, who is it that's assisting him?" Makarov asked the question that was on a lot of minds. They had checked all the people around them, the mages that were resting and fighting were everybody that wasn't evacuated, except for Natsu himself.

"These spirits of his seem to have a guy in charge of them, I believe he was summoned to aid Natsu in his battle. If you ask me, he looked more than capable."

"Then, we shall leave it in his or her hands. We must take care of ourselves, for now. It's good to have someone join us, the battle is almost over."

"Say, Mirajane. You have a dragon transformation yourself, wouldn't that allow you to take other dragons down?" Erza asked her, as it made sense.

"Well, most definitely not with a regular Take Over. But I might be able to do it with a Soul Fusion." Again, she got some questioning looks. She has gotten quite enough of these, so she decided to just do her thing.

"Just…. I need Wendy." The Sky Dragon Slayer came over as soon as her name was called.

"If you still have it in you, could you restore some of my magic energy."

"Healing has become too much for me, but I think I can manage just that." The petite girl nods, determined to help the party as much as she possibly could. Mirajane started channeling the spell while Wendy, who kneeling behind her, was feeding her magic energy. It was the first time Mirajane was going to cast it without Natsu to guide her. The easiest way to do it was to have the soul itself cooperate and do most of the work, like Natsu had Igneel do for him. But Mirajane didn't know the dragon personally, and would have a hard time trying to contact it. That's time they don't have at the moment. After a short while, Wendy seemed to be having a lot of trouble keeping herself standing.

"Almost there, Wendy. I can feel it." The surge of power was flowing through her body, as she linked it with the dragon soul she held within her. The magic circle of fire dragon magic appeared beneath her, notifying Wendy and the others of the success of the spell and the end of Mirajane's channeling. The transformation went by with a crimson light that left a fire dragon in Mirajane's place.

"Whoa, let's see what you can do now!" Gray seemed rather excited about someone getting a new trick other than Natsu. Mirajane followed up by roaring loudly and charging at one of the dragons. Her jaws crashed into the neck of the dragon. Then, a fire surge was released from her fangs. Her victim roared before sweeping her aside with its tail and releasing its breath. What it didn't expect, was Sting and Rogue to come up from behind him to finish the beast off.

"Well, I don't think this'll get much easier, so let's do as much as we can while we got Mirajane going like that." Rogue reasoned.

"Hell yeah, lizard-killing is getting better and better!" Sting shouted energetically, to which most sweat dropped. Naturally, this reminded them of Natsu's cheerful nature and excitement.

"You know Natsu's not ready for you yet, Zeref. Why are you doing this?"

"If there's even the slightest chance, I have to take it."

"And kill off a secure chance to achieve your goal while you're at it? If you wait more, chance of success will be much higher. Surely, even a human like you must be able to see that."

"I've been waiting for very long now, even you must be able to see that."

"Not long enough!"

"I'll drag him out and see for myself…" The black magic was charging inside Zeref's body. Azur became aware of this and took a defensive stance, enhancing his agility as he was awaiting Zeref's attack. Things were about to get really unpleasant.

Zeref made the first move, sending dark pulses through the ground. They continuously erupted after passing a certain distance. Azur spread himself over the ground and caught these attacks head on. Behind Zeref appeared a fire circle with a reflection of space in it, similar to Azur's body? This circle released the same attack Zeref had thrown at Azur at his own back. Zeref sensed his own magic energy and quickly caught on. Leaping aside, he sighed.

"Is it still going to be as difficult to hit you as last time?" It was a technique that Azur himself had developed using his own body. It requires him to make use of a combination of Violet's magic while also using an altered version of the Rebuke's Repel.

"Find out for yourself." He taunted the dark mage as the circle now seemed to turn into a giant firefist which grasped for Zeref, who was caught mid-air. To escape, he spun around with newly constructed demon wings, releasing the dark energy all around him. The fire disappated. Azur was watching how a demon was now charging at him. It was about to come down to some hand-to-hand combat with the two, only that Zeref would use limbs that he did not physically have, but ones that he created in a similar fashion as the wings he now has. However, Azur was very experienced in this manner of fighting. After all, he's about three times as old as Zeref.

Zeref lunged forward with his fist ready to strike. Azur simply blocked it with the palm of his hand, then he deflected the other incoming blow with the same arm's elbow. Zeref's kick was negated by one of Azur, he used it to gain momentum which resulted in a roundhouse kick performed by his left leg. As Zeref went flying, Azur summoned another 'mirror'. He soared right into it and came out of Azur's stomach directly into his hand. The giant slammed him down and crushed him beneath his feet. He then watched as the human lied in a crater, bleeding.

"You were driven by a desire, which made you reckless. The Zeref I battled with would not have engaged me in such manner of combat, for he knew he'd be at a disadvantage." A few moments passed before Natsu, still watching from the cage which is his own mind, started questioning him.

"Why isn't he finishing him off?"

"Natsu, Azur isn't from that world. None of us are. We don't have the right to perform actions that would have such a major impact on the future.

"Then give me control over my damn body, I'll do it!"

"I'm afraid it's not so simple." Blue tried to calm Natsu down along with Violet.

"Once in control, the only way to go back is to completely deplete a spirit's magic container, AKA the spirit essence. It's just the same, really. We drain it to use our magic, it restores itself over time. Point being, Azur isn't done yet."

"What're you talking about? Zeref's down." Blue responded by pointing at the events that happened outside. As Azur was walking away, Zeref stood up and walked out of the crater.

"We're not done yet..." Zeref started tapping into every last bit he got left of magic.

"Don't try anything, Zeref. You can no longer win this fight. All you're doing is making yourself more vulnerable." Zeref ignored the warning and summoned his demonic creations in a smaller form, among which were Deliora and Acnologia.

"All right, if that's how you wanna play it." Azur kneeled down and touched the ground, focusing his magic and trying to even the fight.

"What's happening?" Natsu asked, seeing how the spirits were glowing.

"Looks like it's time for us to act up as well." Blaze realized what was about to happen.

"Hell yeah, some action!" The lightning spirit cheered.

"That's so unfair! God damn it." Natsu sighed in defeat as the spirits disappeared from his mind and were summoned to the battlefield.

"So you brought your own lackeys along, huh? My, my, there's quite a few of them." Azur ignored his comment and assumed a fighting stance, the others did the same. The demons rushed on Zeref's command. Azur moved forward in a V formation with the others. They were about to clash, and the battle was getting near it's end.

* * *

So... idk... This is just what happens. Don't hate me, plez. Idk, no idea what to think of it. It's what I got, though. Maybe I might've made Zeref a bit too weak, maybe I made my character a bit too good. I'm just rootin' for him, damn it!


	73. Chapter 73

Back again, I am! Quickly wanna mention something before I say anything else. 400 reviewers, yeah! I so wanted to give the guy/woman a quick shoutout or thank you or whatnot but I couldn't reply to the review :( (Why is that, anyways? If they have a username, doesn't that mean they have a profile?)Moving on.I decided to swap the update dates of stories for today and coming Wednesday by exception, because I thought last chapter needed it's follow up quite badly. I realize I might have made Zeref a bit weird, that is because I wanted to make him a bit different from how he always was envisioned. Now, I have different plans. Or, I figured out what I really want to do. At least, so I think. Allow me to show y'all!

* * *

"This is so damn unfair. It's my fight and I'm the only one who doesn't get to do anything! It's outrageous!" Natsu sarcastically debates with himself, for he realises that this is a battle that exceeds his own strength. Though, he's been getting rather doubtful towards Zeref's abilities. After all, Azur is kind of wrecking his face.

"Seems rather fishy to me... Well, it's not like anything can happen. Worst case scenario, I get forced back in there, change to either lightning of spectral flame and get the hell out of there. These guys aren't really dying, anyways. Violet told me that their life force is something that isn't bound to their body, like with humans. Makes sense, obviously, since they're spirits. As long as they have a role to play, they'll live. In this case, that is to maintain the power and existance of their respective flame. As such, Natsu managed to calm himself down, yet he did not crave all of his suspicions away. The only thing he could do, was watch what would happen.

Zeref remained in the back, letting his army occupy the flame spirits. As they clashed, Violet immediately unleashed three times her own force, by the means of flame copies, onto one of the demons. Spark started zipping to one enemy after another, dealing low but consistent damage all around. Blue spread his ice over the ground, conjuring icicles from his domain to spring upwards. The effect was stronger the closer they were to Blue himself. And Blaze simply pulled a Natsu, storming through the battlefield, punching anything in his way. The Deliora-like demon backed off and prepared it's well-know destructive roar that would bring forth a very powerful beam.

"Watch out, everyone!" Blue was the one who saw it coming. He raised multiple ice shards to form a shield for his allies. However, it was pierced easily. Violet tried to raise some of her minions to her defense, but she was still hit by the explosion. Crying in pain, she was forced on her back near the edge of the fight. As she lost her concentration, her copies vanished. This gave all of the demons a chance to target the flame spirits with advantageous numbers. Blaze tried his best to change his pattern up with attacks that would deal some damage to a good amount of enemies, but it wasn't enough to fend off all the demons that were lunging at him right now. Blue and Spark were hit by Acnologia's powerful roar, destroying a big chunk of the landscape they were standing on.

"Now, let's see if this actually works..." They heard. Blaze was forced to his knees by the many demons holding him. He was now looking at Zeref who seemed much more composed than earlier. The dark spell he seemed to have been charging this entire time did not bode well, however. In the form of a ray, Blaze was struck by that very magic energy. A magic circle formed below him. Dark chains erupted from the cornerstones of the circle and ensnared his body. His spirit energy was being forced out of his body, into the ground in the shape of a spiral. The circle started spinning as it was draining more of Blaze's spirit force. His flames were dimming, losing their crimson charm.

"He's... He's losing his spirit essence." Blue managed to bring out. All of them were shocked to see that one of them could even be harmed in this way. For spirits, there is a major difference between taking physical damage and damage directly to the spirit itself.

"Blaze is... dying?" Violet could hardly believe. She was on the verge of crying, seeing how one of their own was suffering so much. The screams would be engraved in her mind for the rest of her life, if that were to be much longer, that is.

"You were naïve, Azur. Naïve to believe that I would lose sight of things so easily. To believe that I would lose my composure because of this. You were ignorant. I forced you to bring out your subordinates, so I could test my newly developed spell out. I've been studying, you know. On your kind. I had to know if I could manage to do this, kill a spirit. To me, it seems to be working just fine. So, let's see if I can't adjust it to take down a spirit lord." Zeref explained with the same cold, calm and sinister glare that he was known for. Charging the same energy yet again, conjured from the preparations he had done throughout the whole previous fight, another spell was launched. This time, at Azur.

"I didn't think so..." A veil of dark flames covered Azur from the incoming attack. All of the dark energy that Zeref just fired was absorbed. The veil took a human shape. A long cape and long, dark hair could be recognized. His head was raised, and the newcomer released all the dark energy that was just absorbed into the air. As he gave Zeref a similar glare to his own, he walked over to Blaze. Crouching, his own magic circle was conjured and started spinning in the opposite direction of the magic circle belonging to the spell Zeref had cast upon Blaze. The spinning slowed down, until it stopped. It then spun the other way, releasing the spirit essence back into Blaze. His crimson flames lighted up again as he regained his energy.

"I've never been happier to see you, Grim."

"Hmpf, don't mention it. You know I don't want to do this, but I was forced to act. If not, I would defy the sole reason of my existance. To protect the flame spirit essence."

"There was no better time to show up, dark one. I must ask you to lend us your strength." Azur pleaded, which was quite unusual. Grim wasn't known for listening, however.

"Given the circumstances, I'll do as you ask. But only this once." He replied.

"Make sure to deflect as much of Zeref's spells as you can, leave the rest to us." The spirit lord commanded. Grim nodded.

"Violet, Spark, you two are in charge of the demon legion. Blue, back them up every once in a while. But you'll also be helping out with Zeref. Blaze, you and me will be taking him down."

"You bet. That cocksucker owes me." Blaze clenched his fists.

"Whoever brings down the most demons?" Violet grinned at Spark.

"You're on."

"Well, I must say I'm impressed by how you were able to negate my spell so easily. Will it be enough, however? Ask yourself that, before you all start spouting with confidence." Ignoring what was just said, the group charged ahead with their newfound battle strength, coming from Grim. As commanded, Violet and Spark immediately hunted down the demons that Zeref spawned, with the support from Blue.

Zeref wasn't too happy about the way things had gone. After all, he still ended up suffering a lot of pain to be able to perform what he expected to win him the battle. Now, he has to fight three spirits, without any assistance, in a miserable condition, while they have the advantage of being able to repel dark magic.

'Ngh... I must take out that Grim if I want to be able to do much of anything. I can't use dark magic against him, which is nearly all I have. What if... Yes. I got it. I should be able to alter my magic just so that I can use the two other magics closest to dark. Spectral and shadow magic. Spectral magic is cearly not an option with the female, so I only have one option left.' As such, Zeref started channeling his magic yet again, trying to change it's nature temporarily.

"Quick, attack. I feel his magic changing. Whatever he's doing, we want none of it!" Grim sensed the dark magic inside Zeref alternating. Blaze didn't need to hear another word, he charged at Zeref like a meteor would at the planet. He was forced to a stop, however, when Zeref released his shadows. It spread all around him, creating his domain in which he was effective and powerful.

Blue sent a barrage of icicles Zeref's way, which was the sign for the others to go in as well. Azur performed a somersault, separating the golden flames from his feet as his heels got closer to the ground. So, a vertical wave of fire was launched at the dark mage. Blaze was the one who did not use a ranged spell. He once against started charging in. Shadows rose to block the vertical wave of fire. Zeref himself slashed the icicles away with shadow claws as shadow spikes attempted to halt the crimson flame spirit. Blaze's fists countered the prominent stabs of these shadows, but couldn't take those shadows tenfold. Now, he was surrounded.

Blaze felt his foot being pierced from below. He grunted before slamming a crimson fireball into the ground, spreading flames over the shadows. He chased right after his own firewave, as it scared the shadows away. Zeref watched him approaching, without much concern for anything. Blaze lunged forward, but Zeref punched him away without even moving. His own shadow, quicker than Blaze could have anticapated, seemed to be smiling in a mocking manner at the flame spirit who came crushing at the ground. Zeref himself glared him down, but his eyes widened as he realised something. He turned around and immediately summoned a triple layer of shadows to defend against the foot of the giant spirit that came crushing down at him. Blaze recuperated quickly with a backflip, grinning at how his distraction was a success.

'Being blunt and straight forward always makes people look only at you. Even with girls, hehe.' Blaze recalled his adventures where he wandered the human world when given the chance. He shook off the thought and focused on the battle once more. He clapped his hands together before slowly spreading them and collecting a lot of magic energy in between them. Still grinning, he punched the fireball, adding more magic energy and force to it. Now, it seemed as if a giant meteor was making it's way to Zeref's back. He looked behind him and watched the giant fireball coming. A dead hit. Struck by the intensive heat, the shadows that guarded him against Azur dissappated. In addition to the fire, he was crushed by the giant spirit's foot once more.

'Why? Why couldn't I raise the shadows to fend off that attack?' Zeref asked as he laid on his back, staring at the sky. He looked at the spot which he wanted to raise shadows from, and saw that there were no shadows at all. From the blank spot in the darkness, the shadows started retracting. The giant perimiter that Zeref had set was being nullified. Now, all that was left was his own shadow. Then came the reason for his inability to defend himself. Out of his own shadow, Rogue appeared.

"HOLY RAY!" Sting jumped high up in the air, assaulting the demon legion with his barrage of holy missles. Using this oppertunity, Violet and Spark finished them all off in one go.

'So, the shadow dragon slayer cancelled out my own shadows, it seems. I believe it's time I take my leave, then.' As Azur crouched to get a hold of Zeref, Acnologia swooped in and forced him back. Zeref quickly crawled onto the dragon and flew off.

"God damn it..." Sting stared at the dragon.

"This was to be expected. He won't allow anyone but Natsu to bring him down." Azur reasoned.

"Speaking of which, where is he?"

"You're indirectly speaking to him." Confusion spread among the two dragon slayers who joined the only just joined the battle. Explenations came and with that, the spirits retreated to their natural form. As mentioned before, Azur was only able to get Natsu back in charge by depleting all of his strength. He had a quick way to do this, but it was tough on Natsu when he came back. He was leaning on both Rogue and Sting as they stumbled down the hill, into the destroyed town.

"Natsu!" Mirajane, back in her regular form, yelled as hard as she could upon the sight of him. Which, after all the action, wasn't very loud. Most of the mages were down on the ground, napping up their lost energy.

"It's over now." He embraced her calmly. A couple hours later, after the mages had recuperated, they explained the past events to Hisui and the king.

"I suppose we owe Fairy Tail more than we could ever repay. We are, once again, in your debt." The king spoke in gratitude as he bowed to the guild.

"Don't forget the twin dragons, they were a giant help." Natsu reminded him as he pulled Sting and Rogue into the group of Fairy Tail mages.

"Yes, of course."

"I think we owe most of it to Natsu." Hisui winked at the fire mage. Mirajane gave her a 'back off' glare.

"Awww, afraid I'll pluck him away from you? Haha, don't worry, Mira. I know I can't outmatch you. I wouldn't stand a chance." The angry look Mirajane had was replaced with confusion, then by joy.

"Don't say that, Hisui. You're a fine catch, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for you to..." Natsu felt a demonic aura engulf him as he continued speaking.

"B-But you know... Mirajane is just THAT person to me. All you gotta do is find who that is to you." Hisui gave him a shoulder tap.

"Don't worry, I'm well aware of that."

"But, regardless of that, it's not me who should get most of the credit. In fact, I hardly did anything. I'm not gonna explain, because they'd prefer to remain anonymous."

"I see. Despite of that, tell them we are very grateful for what they have done."

"As am I, old man. As am I..." Natsu whispered. Of course, he meant everything the spirits had done for him, not just the previous endeavors. The mages remained in Crocus for another day before finally returning to Magnolia. Most of them had stayed up late drinking and celebrating. The GMG resulted in no winner at all, and was simply delayed for a year. But Fairy Tail did come out with yet another token of gratitude from the king. Makarov had managed to establish an agreement which said that all the expenses that Fairy Tail had to cover regarding repairs for the oncoming year would go directly to the king's house. As soon as they arrived, Natsu and Mirajane did not even enter the guild hall before attempting to head homewards.

"Hey, where do you think you two are going?" Gray asked the two runaway mages.

"Oh, you know, just... gonna plan our wedding and stuff. Such things require some preparation in advance, you know." Natsu said, as if it was no big deal at all.

"WHAAAT?!" Nearly the entire guild hall shouted. And so, Natsu and Mirajane were chased by their close friends, who were demanding some answers, all the way down to their home.

* * *

That was that. I feel like this does make up for last chappy. It feels like we're really close, huh? I still can't believe how far this store has gotten. 400 reviews on a first story? That seems rather unusual. Then again, I suppose I used to update very frequently with short chapters, which tends to get more reviews than heavy chapters at a slower pace. Especially when you had some really loyal reviewers like I've been fortunate enough to have :)


	74. Chapter 74

I AM BACK! Sort of... In a way. I got a decent amount of feedback. Not too many people actually bothered, though :( Sad face, not as many people are concerned. Oh well, at least I hope I'm not wasting my time writing this stuff. Please, people, have mercy on my soul. I planned on writing this chapter over two days worth of time. Now, that didn't exactly go as planned. I was traveling throughout the entirety of Friday. And, for some reason, I was super exhausted on Thursday. Something like that's never really happened to me before. I was super tired without any reason whatsoever. I could hardly stand. Ah well, shoutout to Windbear for giving me loads of ideas, though! So, let's see what we can fix ourselves.

* * *

It has been a few weeks since the guild went crazy over the binding of their favorite couple. The ones that were to beat the biggest threat during the GMG, no less. The guild rowdier than ever. But not because of Natsu, for once. In fact, he was one of the calmer members.

"Natsu's best MAN has to be a true MAN!" Elfman emphasized the word 'man', as he always does, trying to argue with Gray.

"No way in hell you're beating me to it, beast barker. You know how Natsu and I have been ever since he joined the guild, there's no way it's gonna be anyone else!" The sparks could be seen in between their eyes as they gave one another fierce eyes.

"Shut yer mouths, both of ya. Clearly, that position goes to another dragon slayer. And, seeing as to how Wendy isn't really gonna make it there, it has to be me." Gajeel chomps on a piece of iron as he blurts his objection out there.

"You've been with us for barely a year, what makes you think you deserve it?" Gray crosses his arms before his chest.

"You're nowhere near MANLY enough to be his best MAN!" I'm starting to think Elfman doesn't really know much else to say （；¬＿¬)

"Wanna find out how manly I can punch your face in?!" He growls at the well-built man towering over him. The men continue to growl at one another as Wendy rushes past them with a happy expression. She's carrying a rose bouquet.

"What do you think about this one, Mira-san?" Mirajane, turning away from Natsu, takes a look at what Wendy's showcasing.

"They look nice, Wendy. But, roses are overused. What say you, Natsu?" She turns towards her fiancee.

"Why don't we try some Fern Flowers? They're the hottest I know." (Thumbs up for those that know what I'm referring to)

"That would be something unique. But, where do you find those?" Mira asked.

"Don't worry, Dragon Slayers shouldn't have a problem tracking it down. I'll come with ya, Wendy." Natsu stands up, but was halted by Wendy.

"I'll ask Gajeel, you don't move an inch!" She pouts before running off to ask Gajeel for assistance. This is an opportunity to show his dominance over the others, so, of course, he complied.

Gray continued making ice sculptures while Lisanna and Lucy were stitching a dress together for Mirajane.

Natsu's attention was returned to a grinning Mirajane.

"What's so funny?" He asks.

"Just, the way the guild is right now. It's such a big mess, and it's not even your fault." She grins as Natsu throws a tantrum. However, he can't help but smile contently with the current situation.

"We're almost there, huh?"

"Hm?" Mira questions his sudden question.

"Ne, Mira. Have you ever imagined having a family of your own?" She blushes as he mentioned the idea.

"D-Don't say stuff like that in public!"

"Why? It's not like it's not natural for us to think about that sort of stuff." He reasons, and she can't really argue with it.

"Well... I never really envisioned myself with another family other than Lisanna and Elfman, no." Natsu returns his gaze to the ceiling. The few beams of sunlight slipping through shine onto his skin.

"That so, huh?" A breeze tilted his hair towards Mirajane. Wait, a breeze? Aren't the doors closed? The double doors burst open, a heavy gust entering the build hall. Waiting for them outside, were Wendy and Gajeel.

"We met some interesting folks on the road." Gajeel pointed behind him. Wendy nodded with tears in her eyes. Behind them stood a pure white and metalic gray dragon. Natsu immediately understood who they were.

"The two of you? Here?" They let out a heavy breath from their noses, confirming his words.

"It's a special occasion, isn't it? Aren't we allowed to come visit our children during times like these?" Metalicana grunted.

"Visit? What about this whole time you were away? Even Igneel didn't tell me specifically."

"I doubt that. I'm fairly he's told you the exact reason why we're here." Grandine interrupted Natsu.

"We've assumed word of past events. He told you that a Dragon's last wish is granted upon death. Always. His last was to forever stay at your side. Now, there was an earth Dragon that recently died trying to get back to his Dragon Slayer. He was first deemed unworthy of this privilige, but all of us Dragons beneath Acnologia insisted that he'd get his wish. The black dragon still refused. We engaged him in battle. This resulted in the death of two more Dragons. Both of which wanted the same thing. Acnologia couldn't ignore three wishes. And so, they wished for all Dragons and Dragon Slayers to be united once more." The iron Dragon explained.

"But, why didn't this happen sooner?" This question was on more minds than just Natsu's.

"Well, for one, a Dragon's death is not that common. You are aware of the length of our lifespan. The first one since that damned year was Igneel, and he had to be extremely selfish with his wish. Tsk, damn the guy." He mocked his rival.

"Calm down, Metalicana. I'm fairly certain Igneel can hear you right now." Grandine attempted to quiet the Dragon down.

"As if I care. In fact, it's better this way. I want him to know how he's always lived a selfish life! God damn that guy." If this was any other person, Natsu would've personally silenced him a long time ago. But, knowing the relationship Metalicana has with Igneel, he let it slide.

"Well then. Gajeel, Wendy, take some time for yourselves. Looking at these two, I'm fairly certain you'll appreciate it." He gazed at the two Dragons.

"Are you sure that's all right, Natsu-san?" Wendy asked, her caring expression reaching out to him.

"Sorry, Salamander. I don't want to be such a party breaker, but you know what it's like..." Gajeel muttered, trying to excuse himself. It wasn't really his style to do that, but the situation was pretty serious. Both on Natsu's, Mirajane's and on Wendy's, Gajeel's end.

"Are you frickin' kidding me? I wouldn't let anything in the world stop me if I were you. Don't worry about it, just go!" He waves them off as they depart with their Dragons.

"So, what're the plans for now?" Cana asked them.

"Well, you know, since they got that going for them, how about we all take a day off?" Radiant smiles formed upon the faces of many as they heard about Natsu's proposal.

"Heck yeah!" A shout came from Wakaba.

"You know, why does that have to come from the person that's working the least?" Lots of people sweat dropped and stared blankly at the pervert next to Macao when Erza made this statement.

"Haha, just take it easy, y'all." Natsu waves them goodbye as he walks off with Mirajane, their hands entangled while walking against the wind.

"So, back on topic..." Natsu starts.

"Hmmm?" Mira let out a soft hum, asking what he means.

"Children. Would you picture yourself as a mother? I think your caring personality would make you an excellent one." The giggles a bit upon hearing that.

"And how would we raise them? By telling them stories on how their father was once possessed and hosted several alternations of his magic in the form of spirits?" She grins, eagerly awaiting Natsu's response.

"Well, that'd be a nice start, don't you think?"

*GIggles* "Yeah, sure, it would be." She leans her head on Natsu's shoulder as she sighs.

"For now, we shouldn't be thinking about that. We will when the time is there. Now, we should be thinking about us. Where 'us' is gonna be in the near future, how 'us' is gonna live in the near future..." She kept whispering whatever she said very close to his hear, so that Natsu could feel her breath on the skin of his neck.

He tried to hide his guilty pleasure, but Mira was very good at teasing him in the subtlest of ways. She always has been. Though, she hasn't always done it as subtle as she could... As the pictures pulled Natsu away from reality, Mira dragged him right back in with a pinch.

"Ne?"

"Oh, uh. Yeah, you're right." He tried to brush all her pressure away from him, but it wouldn't go by so smoothly.

"Weren't you paying attention to what I was saying?" She says with a pout.

"Of course I was!... In fact, I think I was paying too much attention..." Natsu muttered the last part, loud enough for Mira to hear.

"W-What? Why're you smiling at me like that?" He asks, seeing how Mirajane seems to be staring intently at his face while giving him a radiant smile.

"Because I like it when your face reveals more than you want it to." She gave him a sadistic grin, one that made him gulp.

"Like what?" He collected the courage to ask her. Mirajane moved closer, now in the same position as she was before, very close to Natsu's ear. He awaited the sound of her angelic voice, but it never came. Instead, he felt something soft and wet on his ear. Mirajane let her tongue slip over his earlobe.

"M-M... MIRA!" He pulled away from her enchanting moves.

"Now's not the time!" He quietly yelled as he looked around, seeing if people weren't staring at them.

"Then we make the time." She said as she pulled him along while rushing homewards.

The evening is still young, and there's still a lot of things to do for our Dragon Slayer. Things that I will leave to the imagination of you, the reader. Just know that these actions take please in their personal housing...

* * *

Alright, so, I don't know if you've noticed, but it's been so long since I wrote for this story. Thanks to the present tense of my other story, I totally just got used to it. I gave up on correcting my present tense usage from the beginning and just wrote whatever the hell came up. I don't have the patience to go and check on it all. So, all in all, it was quite some chaos. But, I just tossed everything in there I possibly had to give. Most of the beginning originated from Windbear, though.


	75. Chapter 75

I'm assuming this chapter to be the last one (for now). Quite close to this story's anniversary, we are. I'll try to include everything I want to get in this chapter. If I manage to do that, then you guys shouldn't be expecting a very quick update. It's been two god damn weeks, maybe even three? Idk. Oh, right, I should probably tell you people why that is. First week I was on break. Vacation makes it pretty tough for me to write, as that time is pretty valuable. Second week, I came back to school. First thing I get is this major assignment for French (hate French), so that was fun. Kept me busy for all three days I had up til Thursday, which was the deadline. So, yeah. Ah well, that's the way it is. I was stuck again on what to do. I suppose the nice ideas that were given to me only served as a way to postpone the inevitable. But, I got it done. I think what I got is fine and works. It's no glorious ending that I hoped to achieve, but you gotta go with what you got. I'll give you all what I believe to be the final chapter.

Oh, and one more thing. A good friend of mine around here, Rainbowmnms, is going through some REAAAAALLY tough stuff right now with her family. If some of you could leave this brilliant author a friendly PM, wishing for things to get better or something perhaps, I would greatly appreciate it. Maybe something like "I am here in honor of the long awaited ending of Atomic's story, yadeyade." Idk. Anything that makes her smile or distract her would be great. If you mention my name, not boasting, I'm sure it'll help. She deserves better than what she is forced to deal with right now.

* * *

The first sound we get to hear, entering the house of Natsu and Mirajane, is the sound of food being devoured. Some nice breakfast was served by the lady, and quickly disappeared in the gaping hole that is a man's hungry mouth. Mirajane enjoyed Natsu's eating manners. At least, when it was her food he was eating. Just because he makes it seem like he truly appreciates your efforts, and appreciation is a nice feeling to receive from others. Then, a thought crossed her mind. Something she never paid any mind before, but since they were about to lay their oaths or whatnot, it felt appropriate.

"Say, Natsu." She called his name as Mirajane placed herself in front of him.

"Hm? What is it?" The Dragon Slayer took a break from eating while diverting his eyes to the source of his favorite voice.

"I never asked you before, so this may be a bit late, but I want to ask nonetheless. Why is it that you accepted me as your lover?" Natsu gulped. If he had been eating, it sure wouldn't have gone down the right way.

"..." He remained silent for just a bit, making the silver haired maiden before him quite anxious for his answer.

"Well, there were many factors that lead me to the decision which I consider to be the best I've ever made." He started, folding his hands together before him and straightening his back.

"Like what?" The obvious question came.

"For one, guilt. From the whole Lisanna event. I wanted to do as much for you as I possibly could. So, that resulted in us spending more time together and me spending more time thinking about you. And you know what I came to realize? I realized, disregarding the dark times we were going through, who you really are. You covered it up with the tomboy act, but you've always been a caring person at heart. And now, the whole guild knows that. The you right now, that's nothing I could get from Erza, or Lucy, or Lisanna, or any other woman I know. Because no one is the same. I got to experience the real you before anyone else did, and it made me feel like you'd do anything you could for someone you care about. That made you the most reliable person I knew, and that is something I really value. Among other things, that just got me to feel attracted to you. In the end, it just felt right. And I'm happy I followed my gut on that without too much thought. Because, that's what love is, isn't it? A feeling, not a theory or thought process or any of that. You feel if it's right, you don't think if it's right. And you, Mirajane, you are just right." The woman in front of him was fighting her emotions.

"Why'd you ask? Having doubts?"

"Not one bit, I just wanted to know for sure what I'm getting myself into." She said as Mirajane leapt towards him and embraced Natsu.

"And I can now say with certainty, that I've no regrets living my life with you."

"God damn it, Mira." He cursed out of nowhere.

"Huh? What?" She looked down at his head.

"First, you start the day with such a heavy subject. And then, you suffocate me between the best meat pillows I'll ever have. BUT I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP RIGHT NOW!" She chuckled as she pushed his head further into her cleavage.

"As I said before, I've no regrets." She grinned triumphantly.

"I suppose it's not the worst that could happen." He grunted, pretending as if he wasn't enjoying it.

"Hey, how about we pay Gajeel and Wendy a visit? You know, it's a pretty special time for them, and we can just hang out for a bit." She proposed.

"You do realize we've got work to do, right?" He counterargued.

"Oh come on, we've been working non stop recently. Of course, besides the times that we were at home..." A mischievous smile creeped on her face.

"Fine, fine. We'll go and check up on them." Natsu gave in. It's not like they hadn't been working a lot the days leading to this one.

The couple left to search for the other Dragon Slayers of Fairy Tail. They figured it'd be best to take flight, so Mirajane performed her simple Satan Soul Take Over. The demon wings carried both herself and Natsu through the sky over Magnolia. Gazing upon the city, they detected no trace of them. Not that they expected anything in Magnolia, so they figured that's where they'd look first. You know, it's closeby and all. Moving on, they headed North of the city.

"Natsu, shouldn't you be able to catch their scent from quite a distance? Because they're Slayers?" Mirajane spoke above the sound of the wind soaring by their ears.

"That's only if they didn't mark it on purpose, which they might've. I kind of have an idea of what they might be doing right now." Natsu tells her. As he finishes his sentence, a glimpse could be caught from the forest below them. Without much time to react, a heavy gust of wind is released skywards. Mirajane barrel rolled out of the way. Nevertheless, one of her wings was still struck by the wind blast. She spun out of control and let go of Natsu. The fire mage fell with great speed towards the hard surface that is the earth. They saw Wendy and Gajeel going at each other. The blast of wind came from the white, female dragon while it was reflected from an iron shield towards the sky.

"Ah, what the hell." He shrugged and engulfed himself in fire. As if he was a meteor, he crashed in between two unaware dragons with Slayers riding them. Both shielded themselves with their own element from the fire exploding from Natsu. Mirajane watched him from above, having recovered from her flight frenzy. She landed smoothly next to the Dragon Slayer that found it necessary to make a dramatic entrance.

"Natsu-san?!" Wendy yelled in surprise from the head of the sky dragon, Grandine.

"Salamander?!" Gajeel had a similar reaction from the top of his father, the iron dragon Metallicana.

"Figured you guys would go at each other in a power struggle at one point." Natsu shared his suspicions and how they turned out to be true.

"Can you blame us? We've been separated for almost all of our lives. I wanna see what my old man's made of!" The iron Dragon Slayer yelled as he pat the head of his father.

"Don't you diss my age when you've a major lack of experience yourself!" Gajeel's Dragon grunted.

"Glad to see you're as lively as ever." Natsu joked.

"Man, I want to beat Igneel up so bad now." He grunted again, it's like he doesn't know how to talk without sounding pissed off.

"You might get to." Natsu announced quietly.

"What was that? He's dead, how can I beat him up if he's dead?" Natsu seemed to be holding back now. That disrespectful tone is provoking him, and he's not afraid to defend Igneel's honor.

"If you want to know, you can always find out." He was about to release the dragon inside of him, until he was stopped.

"Wait, Natsu!" Mirajane's voice sounded exciting, as if she just thought of something.

"What is it?" She gave him a warm grin before she started talking.

_Two weeks later..._

"I do..." Comes simultaniously from Natsu and Mira.

"If anyone has anything against this binding, speak now or remain forever silent." Natsu smiled as he turned to look at all the ones that had gathered for the occasion.

"CHOTTO MATE! I object!" Hisui comes crashing through the double doors while panting heavily.

"H-Hisui?!" Natsu shouts in surprise. He thought it'd be an average wedding with the average rings and the average oath, until the princess of Fiore comes crashing in.

"You didn't think I was gonna let you have a boring, old-fashioned wedding, did you?" She has a devious smirk on her face. He glances at Mira, who seems to be smiling brighter than ever.

"You knew of this?" He asked. The group before him started laughing at his question.

"We all did!" Hisui yelled before she signaled someone.

The building surrounding them is magically deconstructed, revealing the actual location they found themselves in. Natsu and Mirajane now stood on the balcony of the palace in the capital of Fiore. A large group of people cheered at the sight of the two mages.

"Now you see the amount of people who have actually gathered for your special day. Inhabitants and visitors of Crocus, let our hero hear your voice!" The cheering multiplied itself at least threefold upon the king's command.

"So, this is why I was blindfolded and all that while we moved. I thought you just didn't want me to see the church. Sneaky as ever." His sarcastic comment was brushed aside by her angelic smile once again.

"There's something here for you. I thought you might want some additional people to be here today." Elfman pushed a mirror towards our Dragon Slayer as Mirajane explained it's purpose.

"It's an artifact that was kept safe in the vault of this palace. I looked into it, and I've got a general idea of what it'll do. Try it!" She pushed him towards the reflecting surface.

He turned around, nervous as to what this mirror would supposedly do. She gestured him to give it a shot. Natsu stood before the mirror. He saw himself, but not only that. Behind him stood figures. They cleared up, and Natsu started to see what they were. They were people very close to him. Violet, Spark, Blaze, Blue, Grim, and even Azur. He stretched out his hand, reaching for him. As his hand made contact with the mirror, a crimson light engulfed it. Now, separating itself from the mirror's surface, Blaze walked out of it. His perfect human form now stood before Natsu, with the glorious red hair and the ever so slightly tanned skin. Followed by Blue, Spark, Violet, and all of Natsu's spirits. It was quite unbelievable. He and all of his friends could see them in person.

"Don't stand there gaping at us, c'mere you!" Blaze pulls him closer under his arm and playfully rubs his hair. Natsu's grin and their pleasure spread joy to all of the people watching. Violet hugged him, Spark chest bumped him, Blue pat his back, Azur Na Ten shook his hand, and Grim did a staring contest with him (He won, of course).

"The mirror's yours to keep, son." Lautrec told Natsu.

"Wha- Really? I can keep it?"

"It's not like anybody else has any use for it. Make sure to keep it safe, though. Just in case." THe king winked at him.

"Sure thing!"

"Now, shall we pick this up where we left off?" Mira asked him, stretching her hand out towards the Dragon Slayer. He turned, and saw her angelic form with the incandescent sun radiating from behind her. Natsu moved next to her.

"You were about to symbolize your oath." What would usually be rings, would be something a little bit different.

"Violet." Natsu called out for her. She nodded and walked over to his side.

"Blaze." Mirajane did the same thing and called for Blaze, who also walked over to her side.

Natsu asked for Mirajane's hand. He was holding it in his left. The back of her hand was facing upwards. Natsu held Violet's hand in the palm of his right. He brought it down on Mirajane's while both his and Violet's hand set ablaze with the spectral flame. As contact was made, something was imprinted on Mirajane's hand. She did the same to Natsu, and now both hands had this small text imprinted on them.

"The closer we are to one another, the brighter it gets, and the stronger we are." Natsu explained. The text said "Karyuu no shukufuku"

Natsu and Mira turn to face the people of Krokus and raise their intertwined hands. The burn marks, giving off a pleasurable feeling to the both of them, shining as bright as the sun itself.


End file.
